Jacen Sakiyo Chronicles
by Silveriolu16
Summary: Based off x and y. A boy ends up in the pokemon world and has to deal with it. Better than it sounds. m/m.
1. Chapter 1

a/n: This story will probably have some formatting issues. I apologize for that now. I will upload all chapters and then go back and work on things.

Prologue

He woke slowly, feeling strange. There seemed to be grass under him, but that was all he could tell. He blinked furiously, not able to see anything. He managed to sit up and ran a hand through his hair, finding it very long. What is this place?

Before he could think too much he heard a strange noise. Beep ... beep ... BEEP! It took him several seconds but he finally located the source of the noise. It appeared to be coming from ... it resembled a watch, at least that's what he thought anyway.

He pressed the first button he found, hoping it would make the noise go away.

"Hello ..." a male voice said.

"Who's this?" he asked, not recognizing the voice at all.

"Glad I caught you. Where the hell are you Jacen?"

He rubbed his eyes and felt something odd. His arm was warm and he could feel more warmth ...

"JACE?" He laughed nervously and shrugged. He would figure this out later.

"Yeah?"

"Do you even know who this is?" the person on the other end asked. He shook his head and then decided to answer verbally just in case.

"No, I have no idea who you are."

It was then that he noticed something else ... he felt a little faint ... and this was just getting weirder and weirder by the minute. He blinked again, still unable to see anything. Blind? I don't think I'm supposed to be blind ...

"Jacen!" The call (for that was the only thing it could be) was still active.

"Yeah? Who the fuck are you anyway?"

A snort and then a laugh "You're kidding me right?"

"No. I'm. not." he nearly growled, annoyed now.

"Ok ok. It's Kit. You really don't remember me?" Of course not! Would I have asked otherwise?

He groaned, running a hand through his hair again. Should probably tie this up or something ...

"Jacen?"

"What?!"

"Geez, ya don't havta bite my head off. There's something weird going on ..." Oh really? Did it take you this long to notice?!

"What's weird?" he made himself ask. Hopefully this guy would shut up soon ... he was really starting to get a headache.

There were some clicking sounds and then Kit spoke up. "Your phone number isn't showing up. I also have no idea where you are."

He snorted, reminding himself that he did have a name. I'm Jacen ...

"So what." he finally answered with.

"So what?! I don't know where you are!"

He moved his arm away from his face and winced.

"Why do you care? I don't even know you."

"Jace ... God you really don't remember me do you?"

He really did growl this time.

"That's what I've hen trying to tell you."

"But ... ok ... Kit Simons? That doesn't ring any bells?"

He shook his head and then sighed "No."

Some of the same question and answer game went on for a while and then Kit finally told him something useful.

"I don't think you're on Earth anymore Jace."

"Earth?"

"Yeah Earth. As in where you and I live. You and me and your mom that is ..."

Jace groaned loudly, he really did have a headache now.

"Nothing sounds familiar."

"Ok well I'll see if I can figure things out. I'll call you ... at around 10 a.m. tomorrow then?"

"Sure ... it was Kit right?" He'd honestly forgotten with how much the guy talked.

"Yeah. Be careful Jace." He grunted in acknowledgement and there was a click and everything was quiet again.

He felt along his arm, noticing what looked like a leather strap and something that he thought was a watch. Not a watch is it? Watches aren't supposed to make phone calls. Then he took it off and felt the 'face' and found several buttons. He pressed one and a voice rang out.

"I am Kimii your poke-etch. What would you like to do?"

He almost dropped the thing in surprise, but managed to hold onto it. He strapped it back onto his wrist and asked for a manual. Surprisingly there was one, and the voice read out the features and functions to him. He found out he was in somewhere called the Kalos region, near a place called Vaniville.

—- —- —-

A few hours later found him scanning the area for what the poke-etch called pokemon. He had started to think of the machine as 'Kimii' a while ago. Apparently there were several pokemon nearby, but he still had no idea what they were.

"Kimii what is a pokemon?" Instead of telling him what they were she (for it did sound more female than male) told him something else.

"Poochyena the canine pokemon. Type: dark."

He sighed and then winced as something bit him.

"Poochyena's attacks: bite, howl, sand attack ..." As the machine kept rambling on Jace just wanted it to shut up. The pain was intense though and he felt something furry under his finger tips when he tried to find out what was biting him. Gathering his concentration he pressed the button to make the device stop talking and then pulled gently on the furry thing, trying to make it let go.

He heard growling and the pain increased. Then there was some yipping and more growling. Great. What did I get myself into? Before he could even think of defending himself he felt something burn his arm. He hissed through his teeth and wished he could see whatever was attacking him. They sounded like some sort of dog or wolf, so maybe he'd intruded on their territory.

Growling again "Hound houndour?" What the hell?

"Pooch poo poochyena!" Uhm should I be worried now?

"Houndour!"

He grimaced again as there was another sharp pain as teeth clamped down on his arm. This is just wonderful. Now I'll have bites on both arms ...

"Pooch poochyena? Poo po poochyena!" What the fuck are they saying?

"Houndour!"

"Poochyena!" Make up your fuckin' minds already.

Something splashed across his arm and he grit his teeth to keep from crying out as the spot burned fiercely. Whatever these things were they weren't going to stop anytime soon ... They kept at it, more creatures biting him and he got a few more burns. As things progressed it became harder and harder to concentrate, the pain getting to be too much.

Just when he thought he'd pass out footsteps could be heard. Huh?

"Sylv? Syl veon syl. Sylveon!" (What are you doing? He's human!) What the?

"Sylveon! Syl syl sylv veon!" (Get away from him. Move now!) Uhh? And then things started fading, his hearing went all splotchy - sounds coming from farther and farther away ... there was a ringing in his ears and then nothing ...'

—- —- —-

This is fun. What are they doing here? This isn't their territory.

"What are you doing? He's human!" They're attacking him. Why are they attacking him?!

"Get away from him. Move now!"

"Why should we listen to you? You're just a puny little Sylveon."

"You look like a girl anyway." Like this will actually insult me. You guys need some better lines.

"I live here. He's on my turf. Back. off."

Right. They're just a bunch of idiots. The fairy pokemon looked at 'them.' They were a group of Houndour and Poochyena. I still don't know why they're here.

"Why are you here anyway?"

"We found this place. This forest is ours." In your dreams buddy.

"First of all ... This. is. grass. You hear me, grass! You can't claim all this space. Didn't anyone ever tell you that?" It's too big for one pokemon to handle alone.

"This place belongs to us." the other pokemon said in unison. Oh boy this is gonna get ugly ...

The Sylveon slapped himself on the side of the head with one of his tendrils.

"If you don't leave I'll havta make you." he said, getting into a protective stance in front of the human. Thankfully their attention was on him now and not the boy. He looks really bad. Why did they attack a human anyway?

"You're not a threat." one of the Houndour said. It was the largest one. This must be their leader.

"You think you can take me? I bet you guys aren't even level 10 yet." He himself was level eight. He watched the reactions of the other pokemon closely after delivering what could easily be taken as a challenge. There were several of them, maybe even seven or eight, but they didn't look like much. To a human they were a serious threat if you couldn't get away, but for him they wouldn't be much trouble. If they all attacked him at once things might get a little sticky though.

Come on, take the bait. I don't like the looks of you.

"You think you can take on all of us?" the leader asked. He's an ugly son of a bitch isn't he?

"I know I can. Let's cut the chit-chat and battle." He glared the leader down, his dark purple eyes boring into him without mercy.

He watched the leader come at him and side stepped at the last possible second. That was stupid. Did you even watch where you were going? Sylveon rushed the Houndour, slamming into the fire type and knocking him over. He got a fire ball in the face for his efforts, but it was worth it to see the angry expression on the dog's face.

"You're not invincible after all." he taunted, throwing sand in the dog's face. Let's see how you like my Sand Attack. The rest of the pokemon rushed him then and he really wished he'd trained some more that morning ... He didn't know any attack that could help against this many enemies.

He did his best, making sure to keep the human behind him and out of the way as often as possible. He kicked up dust and hurled it into their faces, but there were just too many. He didn't have enough room to Tackle them again. The only other attack he knew was-

"Take this!" he cried as he wagged his tail in their direction. They all laughed, but if this worked they would be on the ground soon. Tail Whip did lower the olponent's defense stat after all.

Teeth sunk into his tail and he yelled in pain. He groaned as one of the Houndour hit him in the side with an Ember. I hate fire ...

"What's the matter? Can't handle us?" the only girl of the group asked in a sickly sweet voice. She was a rather small Poochyena, but proved she wasn't useless by biting him hard in the neck. Ow ow ow!

He closed his eyes, certain he would pass out from exhaustion. Then he felt like his body was being filled with energy. One of his tendrils was actually glowing too. Uh I hope this is useful. Here goes ...'

"Get off me." He saw what happened, but could hardly believe it. Pink dust was coming from his body and somehow it hurt all of them.

He would have burst out laughing if he wasn't so shocked. The dogs tried to run, but the dust hit them all. I think that was Fairy Wind ... When they were finally all down he went to the human and gently nudged him with a tendril. I don't think he's dead, just out cold.


	2. Chapter 2

Key:

(…) = Sylveon mind speech

* (…) * = jace mind speech

* indicates a battle (Early chapters only. You can expect to see - - - - - for battle openings and - - - - - for battle endings later on.)

1\. Meeting Kalyx Black

When Jace woke he was very confused. Why does it feel like someone tried to brand me all over? There was something curled against him too, it had a strange texture. It felt almost silky ... He didn't really know how to describe it.

He reached a hand out, although it was painful, to find out what was there. He needed to know what was going on, even if it hurt to move. He felt something that he thought was fur, but nothing was familiar. There were ... feelers? Or maybe they were tentacles?

"Sy. Sylveon?" (Uh. What are you doing?) He kept exploring, discovering that whatever he was touching also had a tail. What am I touching?

"Syl. Sy veon syl!" (Stop. This is really awkward!) He couldn't figure out what this thing was.

"Syl! Veon sylveon!" (Stop it! Don't touch me!) He snatched his hand back, feeling weary and very lost.

Uhm what?

"Sy. Eon syl?" (Hello. What the?) He reached up to grab his head as an intense pain started to resonate there.

"Who's talking? This really hurts." And it did, the two voices mixing and flowing around each other in a kind of soup in his head.

—- —- —-

When he came to the first thing he noticed was that his brain hurt. When did I pass out?

"Syl sy?" (You alright?) He gently ran the fingers of his left hand over his temple, hoping whatever was so loud inside his head would stop.

"Who are you?" He got out through gritted teeth.

"Syl syl?" (You don't know?)

He growled softly, frustrated once again.

"No."

"Syl ..." (Uhhh ...)

"Just tell me."

"Sylv Sylveon." (I'm Sylveon.)

"Yeah I got that much."

"Sy syl veon?" (You can understand me?)

He snorted "Of course I can. I know I haven't been talking to myself this whole time."

The creature leaned against him and all was quiet for a few minutes.

"What are you?"

"Sy sy?" (I'm a pokemon?)

"Ok ... So why can I understand you then? Those ..."

"Syl sy syl veon. Veon sy syl syl." (You mean the dogs. Houndour and Poochyena.)

"Yeah them. How come I couldn't understand them?"

"Sylveon. Syl sy veon syl?" (I don't really know. You hear me inside your head don't you?)

He just nodded, feeling some of the tension recede from his head.

"Syl sy veon. Syl sy sy veon." (Maybe I can fix that. Let me try something.) And just like that he felt a little better.

(How's this?)

"BETTER. Why didn't you do this before?"

(I didn't know you could hear me. Thought I was talking to myself to be honest.) He laughed, glad that things were at least partially explained.

(This isn't normal though. Try something for me will you.)

"What?"

(See if you can talk to me inside my head.)

"How do I do that?"

(Just think what you want to say.) Ok why not?

* (Hi.) *

(That's ... kind of awesome actually. You shouldn't be able to do that.)

* (Why not?) *

(It's not something humans are supposed to be able to do.)

—- —- —-

Sylveon climbed up onto Jace's shoulder and leaned his head against the human's neck.

(How do you feel?)

He chuckled * (How am I supposed ta feel? I got bitten and burned several times.) *

(Sorry that didn't come out right. Do you think you can walk at least?) He shrugged one shoulder, making sure it was the one without the pokemon hanging off it.

* (Yeah I think so.) *

(Can you tell me something?)

* (What?) *

(I was just wondering ... Why do you seem so confused? It's almost like you can't see me or something.)

* (You got that right.) *

(Huh)

* (I'm blind. I don't think I'm supposed to be though.) *

(What do you mean?)

And so he told him all about what happened since he woke up the first time.

(Wait, so your friend didn't believe you?)

* (No I guess not.) *

(Does it bother you?)

* (Does what bother me?) *

(Not being able to remember him?)

* (I haven't really thought about it. He annoyed me more than anything.) *

After the story Sylveon said he would 'show' him around the area. The pokemon didn't know the whole town, but he pointed out some useful things. There was a river on the southernmost edge, several houses, and a small store. Since the store was closed there wasn't any point in hanging around in town. Sylveon described each location, telling Jacen what was around him and keeping him from falling or hurting himself too much.

When they were near the grass at the edge of town where Jace had woken the human heard something. It was odd, almost familiar, but he couldn't place it. He started toward the source, the noises getting louder as he went.

(What are you doing? Didn't I tell you not to go back to the grass for a while.)

* (Be quiet for a minute.) *

Since they were closer Jacen could hear more clearly.

"Vanillite! Vanil van van van!" Sylveon translated for him. (Get away! Don't come in here!)

* (Huh?) *

"Vanil lite!" (Mine mine!)

* (Uhm ...) *

(I have no idea.)

"Vannnn!" (No!)

* (Whatever pokemon that is sounds angry.) *

(It's a Vanillite. They don't live around here and they're usually pretty mellow.)

* (This one isn't.) *

There were other sounds too. It sounded like someone was getting hurt.

* (We havta do something.) *

(What do you mean?)

* (That sounds like a human. Didn't you say earlier that humans aren't to be hurt by pokemon.) * The Sylveon had mentioned it before.

(Yeah.)

After a minute or two of running its tendrils over Jace's hair the fairy pokemon came to a decision.

(Alright we'll help.)

* (I thought you'd be thrilled to do something right away. You helped me.) *

(You were different. I've never cared about helping a human before I saw them attacking you.) Ok ...'

* - * - * —*

Sylveon jumped from the boy's shoulder and squared off against the Vanillite. The other human was on the ground, covered in ice. I better do something quick, he probably won't last long. (What attack should I use?)

Jace laughed * (You fought without me before. What's the problem?) *

(I don't know! Just tell me what to do.)

Glad I told him the attacks I know earlier.

* (Ok use Tackle.) * Finally. Sylveon charged the ice type, pinning it to the ground easily. It blew ice into his face and he snarled.

(Getting hit with ice here. What now?)

It only took a second for Jace's order * (Use Fairy Wind.) * Thank you! The pink dust started forming quickly, covering Sylveon's body even as he shoved the Vanillite away. He let it fly, hitting the other pokemon and nearly knocking it out.

(What now?)

* (Use Sand Attack and then finish it off with another Fairy Wind.) * Ok you're the boss. Hurling sand at the stupid-looking pokemon was fun, and the fairy type really wanted to do it again. He closed his eyes and brought the pink dust forth once more, sending it toward the hapless ice type. It did not get up, just lay there with an x in each eye.

(It's down.)

* (Good.) *

* - * - * ―*

Jace started toward where he'd heard the noises first. With a little direction from the Sylveon he was able to find the other boy. He felt along his body, concerned when there was no reaction. The ice was troubling too, he was pretty sure humans couldn't survive something like this for long.

* (Can you do anything for him?) *

(I think I can break the ice, but I might hurt him in the process.)

* (Didn't you say I was the first human you cared about enough to help? Why would hurting him bother you?) *

(I dunno. It just feels wrong for some reason.)

* (It's either break that ice or let him die.) *

(Alright. What are your orders 'master?,) I am not your master.

* (Can you maybe use Tackle to shatter the ice?) *

(Yeah. Do you want me to or not?)

* (Yes. Use Tackle on that ice.) * The Sylveon had no trouble shattering the ice, but the human would probably have some bruises. Why are pokemon attacking humans?

—- —- —-

He opened his eyes and looked around. Where's that pokemon who ran at me? After looking around a little he found said pokemon knocked out on the ground. Someone must have helped me, but who?

His eyes were immediately drawn to a sound, alighting on a boy with a pokemon on his lap. The boy was wearing a gray t-shirt (with holes and scorch marks) black jeans ripped at the ends, and scuffed black boots. Who are you? He stretched and then started over to them, never taking his eyes off the boy.

The guy had dark red hair, and it was longer than he'd seen most girls wear theirs. He had the most gorgeous gray eyes he'd ever seen, and seemed to be injured. He stopped in front of the other boy and knelt down, holding his hand out to be shaken.

"Hi I'm Kalyx."

The boy didn't seem to notice his hand. He was silent for a moment and then smiled slightly, just an upward curl of the lip.

"Hi."

Kalyx chuckled, watching him intently. After a moment the boy found his hand and shook it.

"Sorry was a little distracted." the red head said.

"S alright. So uh ... who are you?"

"My name's Jace."

"You can call me Black, I hate being called Kalyx." he told the other boy. I never talk this much, what's going on? At least he's not one of those girls who won't shut up.

"I want to thank you actually."

The gray eyed boy looked startled.

"For what?"

"For saving me from that ... uh ... I don't know what it was."

"Vanillite." He gave the boy a strange look.

"It's called a Vanillite." the red head elaborated.

He nodded "Oh ok. So ... yeah thanks for saving me."

The boy laughed, actually laughed, and it lit up his whole face. Black wanted to make him do it again.

"You should be thanking my Sylveon not me. I didn't really do anything." It was Black's turn to laugh.

"You told it what to do right?"

"Him." He ran a hand through his dark shoulder-length hair.

"Right him. You told him what to do."

"Yeah." The other boy seemed uncomfortable now. What did I do?

He watched the boy for several minutes, he'd gone still and wasn't looking at him. I want him to look at me. Should I be insulted that he doesn't seem to notice me at all?

"Uhhh ... Is there a reason why you're still here?" the gray eyed boy finally asked.

"Hmmm not really ... I should probably get to the pokemon lab."

"Pokemon lab?"

"Yeah so I can get my first pokemon."

"Where is it?" He gave the boy a sly look and smirked a bit.

"Will you come with me ... travel with me ... if I tell you?"

The other male frowned, as if he wasn't sure he could trust Black. I've been completely honest with him. I'm a little awkward, but I haven't lied to him. And god I wanna run my hands through that hair ... Right!

"It's at the north edge of the next town. That's Aquacorde. So is that a yes or a no?"

"I ... might meet up with you again some other time." was the boy's answer. No don't go. He reached out a hand and slowly ran it across one of the burns on the boy's arm. This looks really painful.

"Does this hurt?" The boy didn't seem to hear him, leaning into the touch. Black looked up into his face, noticing the distinctive lack of a blush. That's interesting, is he gay?

"Not as much as you'd think." the boy finally said, gathering the pokemon in his lap into his arms. He hugged it tightly, gently pulling his arm back, almost as if he were afraid. Did I scare him off?

"Look, I wanna do something for you. You look kinda lost." The boy frowned slightly.

"Why?" The pokemon glared at him. For just a moment and he thought he saw an emotion in those purple eyes, but it was gone too quickly to decipher.

"You helped me, so I wanna help you. You're carrying a bag right?"

The boy blinked and rubbed the Sylveon's ears.

"Yeah."

"I could tell you about some of the items in it. I'm pretty good with stuff like that." The boy laughed again, more of a chuckle Black realized, but it was an odd thing to do at the moment.

"What?" he asked, not liking this.

"You do realize I'm blind right?" the boy finally got out after sobering. He blinked several times. Well he hasn't exactly looked me in the eye the entire time I've been conscious ... so why not?

"You're not joking are you?"

"No I'm completely serious." And he seemed to be, his eyes were so expressive. I wonder if he knows about that?

"So ... uh?"

"I'd like some more information." The red head said as he pulled the bag from his back. He unzipped the largest pocket and pushed the bag forward. Wonder why he seems to trust me now when he was all 'I might meet up with you later' earlier.

"You sure? I could steal something from in here." The boy smirked at him.

"Sylveon can take it back from you if you try that." He chuckled, a little nervous, but stuck a hand into the bag and pulled out the first thing he found.

He blinked down at the object, not sure he was seeing what he thought he was.

"You have a pokedex already?" was all he could think to say. The boy gave him an odd look.

"Pokedex?"

"Yeah for checking out pokemon. It also can give you info like their attacks and what type they're strong and weak against. You're so lucky you have one of these."

"Why?"

"My father's the professor and I don't even have one of these. Yours doesn't look like the ones he makes though. You from another region?"

The boy just looked at him blankly. He shrugged and put the pokedex in front of the other male before reaching in and dragging out something big and kind of heavy. He looked down and saw it was a metal box small enough to fit in both his palms, but not large enough to hold food.

"This looks like a lock box to me." he said out loud, fingering the latches and the simple lock with its key hole. The boy blinked and then pulled a key from underneath his shirt. It was attached to a leather cord and Black couldn't help but think of how the boy would look naked and only wearing that around his neck.

He shook his head to clear it just as Jace the key out for him. He took a deep breath and let his fingers brush across the other male's as he took the key from him. He inserted it into the lock, unlatching the lid. It opened with a soft click and he looked inside.

He pulled out several bills, wondering how the kid could have so much money and not have better clothing. He decided not to ask, pulling all the poke dollars out and counting them.

"You have 6000 poke dollars." he announced, putting it all back.

"Alright thanks."

"You can put badges or smaller contest ribbons in here if you want." he found himself saying as he replaced the lock and put the box next to the pokedex.

When he reached into the bag again Black was surprised to find something round and small. In fact there were many of these. He picked out one at random and held it in his hand.

"You've got poke balls too? Are you sure you're not a trainer,?"

"No, I might try that though."

"Alright. Do you know how to use these?" he asked, tossing the ball toward the red head. Too late he remembered that he wouldn't be able to see to catch it, but the boy managed anyway somehow. He held the ball in his hand like he didn't know what to do with it.

"You see the button in the middle?"

The boy nodded, running his fingers over it.

"Press that and the ball will get bigger. You can throw it at weakened pokemon and catch them once the poke ball's enlarged." He watched in fascination as the boy did as instructed, looking like he was born to do so.

"That's it?"

"Yeah that's it. There's nothing else in your bag."

The boy smiled at him "I'm going to put everything back for you." he found himself saying. The boy held out the poke ball (now back to its smaller size) and his heartbeat sped up. He made sure to keep ahold of the boy's hand just a little too long when he took the poke ball back. After putting it away he rummaged in his own pack and pulled out a bottle of water. He put it into the boy's hands.

"Here, think you might need this."

A blink.

"It's water. You don't wanna get dehydrated do you?" The boy shook his head and smiled again. Black couldn't take his eyes off the male's lips for a moment. In fact he'd never taken his eyes off him this whole time. He inwardly sighed. This is not gonna end well. I've never been attracted to another guy before. Girls have been annoying lately though ...

The red head brought him back to the real world as he reached for the pack. His arm brushed up against Black's leg for just a moment and he really wished he would kiss him. The boy grabbed the pack and slung it onto his shoulders.

"Thanks for everything."

"No problem. I really should get going though." he said, wishing he could convince this hot guy to travel with him.

"Good luck." the boy said as he got up and dusted himself off.

"Before I go can I get your number?"

Another blank look.

"Your poke-etch number I mean. I'd like to be friends ..." And now he felt awkward again. What do I want from him exactly?

"Alright." the boy said, pressing a button on his device. A female voice started talking as Black quickly pulled out his father's old pokegear and got ready to enter the number.

After doing so he smiled and held out his hand again. To his surprise the boy took it right away, almost seeming eager to touch him. Is that good or bad?

"When can I call you?" he asked, looking into the gray eyes he was beginning to love.

"Maybe tonight. I'm still figuring out what I'm going to do."

"GYMS or contests right?"

The boy frowned.

"Yeah I guess so ..."

"You can do both if you want. It's a little harder though."

Another smile "I'll look into it and let you know when I do."

"Cool. We should battle too when we can." And then he left, making his way through the grass cautiously on his way to Aquacorde City.


	3. Chapter 3

Key:

(…) = Sylveon mind speech

* (…) * = jace mind speech

2\. The lab and Prof. Sycamore

Jace took several swallows of the water Black had given him and then held the bottle out to Sylveon.

* (You want some?) *

(Sure. I'll take you to the river to refill that on the way to Aquacorde.) the pokemon replied as he took a few gulps. He finished off what was left in the bottle and gave it back to the human.

(Let's go.)

Refilling the bottle didn't take too long and soon they were on their way to Aquacorde. The grass between the two towns (the very same that Jace had woken up in and where Sylveon had saved Black from the Vanillite) was pretty empty at the moment. In about ten minutes they reached the next town. It took so long since Sylveon had wanted to battle the few pokemon they did run into.

Jace ran into someone as he entered the town. He grabbed the shoulders of the person to keep from falling over.

"Sorry ..." they mumbled, a girl from the sound of it.

(She looks funny.)

* (WHY?) *

(She has really short hair for a female human.) Ok ... The girl laughed nervously.

"Can you let go of me?"

He blinked slowly (She looks really uncomfortable.) He quickly did so, stepping back a little.

"Yeah sorry." he said lamely.

"It's alright I'm the one who ran into you." There was silence for a moment.

"So are you on your way to the lab?"

She could only mean the pokemon lab right?

"Yeah." he said, nodding.

"So am I." she said with a giggle.

"Uhhh ..." he said and ran a hand through his hair.

(Not sure how to act around girls?)

* (Weird way to meet someone ... not sure why it matters since I don't remember much anyway ...) *

He smiled slightly. "What's your name?" He didn't really care, but wanted something to call her other than 'that girl.'

"Shauna. What's yours?" Interesting name.

"I'm Jace."

"See you later Jace. I have someone I gotta meet before I go see Prof. Sycamore."

(Humans are so weird. They named their professor after a tree ...) He could hear the awkwardness in the thoughts of his pokemon but decided not to ask about it. The girl left and Jace made his way to the lab with some help from Sylveon.

—- —- —-

At the lab he stood awkwardly in front of the door.

(Well knock.)

* (Ok.) * The door was opened almost immediately and a giggle could be heard.

"Hi. What you here for?"

(She is staring at you.)

* (Huh?) *

(Think she likes you.)

* (Likes me?) *

(Yeah.)

He almost jumped when a hand landed on his arm.

"What?"

"You ok? You were really quiet just now."

"Yeah I'm fine. I'm here to see the professor about becoming a trainer."

She giggled again "Ok right this way ..."

He frowned, not understanding why she was giggling so much.

(She likes you I told you that already.)

* (How?) *

(I can feel your emotions. She confuses you.)

* (Yeah.) *

(The lab has shelves with books on them, a couple tables, two computers, and there is a man here.)

* (What's a computer?) *

(Something humans use to keep information on. I'm not the best pokemon to explain this. It's only the second time I've seen one.)

* (Ok thanks for the info.) * He would have to find out more later.

"Hello. I'm Prof. Sycamore." the man said as he followed the sound of the girl's footsteps into the room. He ran a hand through his hair, not feeling too thrilled about being around so many people.

(It's alright. He's the only one in here other than us and the girl.) the pokemon (who was riding on his shoulder once more) assured him.

* (Good.) *

"You're here to become a trainer right?" the man asked. Jace forced himself to concentrate on that voice and came up with his answer.

"Yeah."

"I'll just set up your trainer's card then. You can have this pokedex I just finished."

He shook his head "I have one already." Jace brought out the device and gave it to him after being told where the man's hand was by his pokemon.

The man seemed surprised when Jace gave it to him.

"Where did you get this? It doesn't look like anything I designed."

He shrugged "Had it."

"Alright this will do." the man said and Jace heard some odd noises.

(He just plugged it into the computer.)

* (How does that work?) *

(He put a cord into a slot on the pokedex and connected the other end to the computer.)

"I'll go and feed the Zangoose prof. Birch sent us." the girl said and left.

"Her name is Shari." the professor said as he typed.

* (What's he doing?) *

(He's typing on a keyboard. It's a big piece of plastic that you can write words with when it's hooked up to a computer.)

* (Ok ...) *

There was silence for a while.

(You should tell him what's going on.)

* (Do you think I can trust him?) *

(Dunno. If he tries to mess with you I'll just hurt him.)

* (Alright. I don't like this though.) *

(He might be able to help you actually. I've heard of these Pokemon professors.' They know a lot about pokemon and maybe he can tell us why you can talk inside my head.)

* (Alright) *

"Professor."

"Yes?"

"I have something I'd like to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Just ... will you listen to my story?"

"Sure."

Once he was done explaining the man sighed and stopped typing.

"You can hear and understand your Sylveon inside your head ... hmmm that's odd."

"Huh?"

"Normally humans can only hear pokemon say their names. I've heard that certain pokemon like Sylveon and Ralts can sense human emotions though ..."

"What does that have to do with this?"

"There's also a rumor that some trainers can hear what their Sylveon is saying and understand it in their heads. It is very rare and they are supposed to have a strong connection with their pokemon ..."

* (Does this make any sense to you?) *

(It sounds like he thinks we're odd.)

"What I don't understand though is how you can answer him. I've never heard of anyone being able to do that with their pokemon before ..."

* (Right ...) *

(Sounds like you're a freak. Don't worry, so am I.)

* (Oh that makes me feel so much better.) *

"Being able to hear your Sylveon in your head will make you famous though. People will worship you for it as some sort of psychic."

"What?"

"A Psychic is someone who can move things with their minds. It is said they can even communicate with people and sometimes pokemon through telepathy."

"What's that?"

"Speaking to someone with your mind. Sorry I forgot you're new to this place."

"It's alright."

The man sighed again "You shouldn't tell people that you can speak with him in your mind though. It might freak them out. You should talk to him out loud unless you're alone, especially during battles."

* (Sylveon what's a battle?) *

(A battle is when two or more pokemon fight. When I knocked out the Vanillite and those dogs who attacked you ... those were battles ... even though the Vanillite didn't fight back much.)

* (Uh?) *

(As a trainer you will battle both wild pokemon like the ones I took down on the way here and also other trainers' pokemon.) The poke-etch had information on both what it meant to be a trainer and also something called a coordinator, but all Jace knew was that he wanted to become a trainer so far.

Sycamore brought him back to the real world with a question.

"What's your name? I need it for the ID."

"Jace."

"Your full name."

"Jacen Sakiyo." The poke-etch had the information, otherwise he'd only have known his first name.

"How old are you?" Really?

"Fifteen." Something else the poke-etch had on record.

"Where are you from?" This one I don't know ...

"I don't remember."

There was silence for a few minutes and Jacen had no idea what the man was doing.

(Looks like he's thinking ...)

"Would it be alright if I put Aquacorde for your home town?"

"Uh why?"

"Since you don't know and my lab's here ..."

(He seems hesitant. Maybe he doesn't want to offend you.)

* (Maybe.) *

"Alright I guess ..."

He heard footsteps and there was also a weird smell.

* (Ugh what's that?) *

(The girl. She smells like ... it's familiar. She smells like a ripe Bulbasaur.)

* (Ripe?) *

(Yeah a Bulbasaur who's really wet.)

* (What?) *

(She's aroused ... by you I think.)

* (Oh.) * And that's really awkward.

Suddenly he felt faint, feeling arms wrap around his waist as he started to fall.

"Whoa. You don't look so good." The girl's voice ... that smell so close now.

"I don't feel so good either."

"There's a chair near the table. Shari help him sit down." the professor instructed. She took him to the chair, letting him lean on her.

"Thanks." he said as he sat down.

"Are you hungry? Shari go make him some sandwiches and grab him some snacks for the journey."

She giggled "Ok Professor."

(Good she left. I didn't like how she looked at you. I'll go get some food for you too. I saw a tree with some berries outside.)

* (Sure.) *

Sylveon jumped onto the ground and walked away.

"What's he doing?" the man asked.

"Getting food for me."

"I'll open the door for." The man walked off, opening the door (with a loud creaking sound) and then came back to his computer and typed again.

There was a tapping at the door a short time later and the professor opened it. Sylveon came back in, jumped onto Jace's lap, and nudged him in the stomach.

(I brought food. The smaller one is an oran berry and the bigger one is an apple. Sorry, couldn't find anything else.)

* (That's fine thanks.) Before he could eat the girl came back in and made a noise Jace didn't understand.

(She doesn't seem to like me much.)

"Shari make sure the food Sylveon brought is ok for a human to eat. Sometimes they don't know what's safe for us to eat." the professor told the girl.

"Let me see it." she demanded.

Sylveon growled (No way. I'm not stupid lady. I checked them myself.)

* (Just let her do it. It might shut her up.) *

(Ok but I don't like it.)

* (Neither do I. She's ... odd.) *

(She wants into your pants of course she's odd.) Jace didn't even respond to that.

After a few minutes the pokemon jumped onto the floor and made his way to the girl.

(She better not do anything to this food.)

"It looks ok." she announced after a minute or two.

"Go ahead and eat it. What's your name anyway?" Jace didn't answer for a moment.

"Jace."

Sylveon climbed up Jace's leg and sat back on his lap, pushing the apple and then the berry against the human's hand.

(Eat the apple first.) He smiled and bit into it, liking the flavor. As he ate he heard the other two talking.

"You didn't bring the food?"

"No I forgot."

"Go get it. Bring something to put it in too, maybe some of those containers I bought for field work ... you know the ones that keep food good for a couple days at a time."

"Ok."

"Shari."

"Yeah?"

"Bring that digital recorder prof. Ivy sent me. I never use it and I think Jacen here could." She left again thankfully and there was silence for a while as Jace ate the apple and then started on the berry.

Jace finished eating and sat there for a moment, not sure what to do.

(You should clean up a little. Do you wanna be sticky forever?)

* (No.) *

(Ask him where the bathroom is then.)

"Where's the bathroom here?"

"Down the hall, it's the first room on the left." the man told him. He found it pretty easily and Sylveon described its layout to him.

He washed his hands and ran a hand through his hair.

(You should really get some new clothes, humans will look at you funny the longer you wear those.)

* (What's wrong with them?) *

(The shirt's got holes and burns and the pants are torn at the bottom.)

* (So?) *

(It doesn't look good. The girl doesn't seem to mind though.) The pokemon growled and rubbed up against Jace's legs.

* (What do you mean?) *

(She looks at you like a piece of meat.)

* (Uhm ...) *

(The boy wasn't like that.)

* (Boy? You mean Black?) *

(Yeah. It was kinda weird, but he sees you as a person at least.)

* (How does he look at me then?) *

(He looks like he wants you, but doesn't ... he's not obsessed with the idea.)

* (Huh?) * Before the pokemon could say anything else there was a knock on the door.

"Jace can I come in?"

(Absolutely not. I don't want her anywhere near you.)

* (Let's see what she wants.) *

(Ok but stand in the doorway so she can't come in.)

* (You got it.") *

He opened the door and she giggled, putting something into his hands.

"That's a brush I haven't used. It's my extra, you can have it."

(Humans brush their hair with those. Wow she gave you something useful.)

"Thanks," he said and closed the door again.

He wet the brush (after Sylveon said it would make things easier) and then brushed out his hair. He discovered it flowed down his back and ended a few inches past his knees.

* (So back to what we were talking about earlier ... what did you mean by obsessed?) *

(She wants your cock in her.)

* (What's a cock?) *

(Seriously? I guess I better show you then. Slide a hand down your body until you reach the waist of your jeans.) Jace did that, not sure what it had to do with anything.

(Now move lower until you reach a slight bulge ...)

* (What will this do?) *

(Good you found it. That's your cock or dick as some call it.) Jace felt his face heat a little.

* (Oh dick, why didn't you say so before?) *

(I thought you'd know ... anyway ... Black looks like he wants to date you and she is just obsessed and wants you to fuck her.) This was something that Jace understood very well.

Sylveon crawled up his pant leg and then his arm, quickly reaching his shoulder and wrapping a few tendrils around the human's upper arm to anchor himself. He then directed the boy back to the main lab. Jace could hear the others talking again as he entered the room.

"Record yourself talking about the useful locations here in Aquacorde. He needs to know where the pokemon center is, where a good clothing store is, and also where to find a store to buy supplies for his journey." the professor said.

"Ok." Shari said as she jogged out of the room.

"Do you want a starter pokemon Jacen?"

"Starter pokemon?"

"Yes, a pokemon I give you for your journey. Normally this would be your first pokemon, but I have some extras that I don't mind giving you."

* (What do you think?) *

(It's a good idea. You'll have two of us to fight then.)

* (I'll tell him.) *

"I'd like one." The man handed him a box and Jace blinked twice.

"What's this for?"

"There are models of the starters from Kalos in there. I'll tell you more about them as you explore them." Jace smiled slightly and opened the box. Inside were strange looking statues. He pulled one out to examine.

He let his fingers travel over the small model, finding out it was very round and felt kind of pointy.

"That's Chespin, a grass type pokemon." He put it away and brought out another, noticing this one was rather cute.

"That's Fennikin, the fire type. Rather cute isn't it?" Jace nodded, fascinated.

"Fennekin's a fox." the professor elaborated. Jace nodded and put the statue away, pulling out the last one.

It felt like something with long legs and a weirdly shaped head.

(That's a frog.)

"That's Froakie, the water type." Jace ran his fingers over the frog's body for a moment and then put it back into the box with the other models.

"So which one do you want?"

"I don't know."

"You can check them all out then." Sycamore said, giving Jace a poke ball.

He enlarged it and threw it into the air. chespin' the pokemon that popped out said.

(It's glaring at you.) Jace blinked several times.

(I don't think it likes you.)

The professor groaned "They're usually friendly. Here put it back into its poke ball."

"How do I do that?" Jace asked as he caught the ball the man had thrown. (Sylveon told him where it was so he could grab it)

"You press the button in the middle and point it at the pokemon to return it to its ball."

Sylveon told him where to point and he managed to put the grass type away. Sylveon took the ball and brought it to the other human.

"Thanks. Here's the next one." The fairy type brought Jace another ball and he tossed it into the air.

"Froakie!" the pokemon said when it came out. He heard a strange noise, almost like rushing water.

(It's going to use Water Gun. Hurry, put it in its ball again.) Jace did so, wondering what was up with these pokemon.

Sylveon put the poke ball down.

(I am glaring at him right now. How could he give you pokemon that hate you?)

* (Maybe he didn't know they would?) *

(I don't buy it.)

The professor sighed "This is the last one. Hopefully it won't try and attack or glare at you." The fairy type gave him the ball and he lobbed it into the air.

"Fennekin!" a cute voice cried. The pokemon nuzzled Jace's leg and dug its small claws into his jeans. It took a few tries, but it finally managed to climb onto his lap. He smiled slightly and ran his fingers over what he discovered was the pokemon's head. It was very small, but obviously a fox. It rubbed up against his hand and made a cute cooing noise.

* (What's it saying?) *

(He says he likes you a lot. He is calling you big brother.)

* (Uhm ...) *

(He's really young. Maybe he thinks you're his family.)

"That's not right. He's a baby. The starters are supposed to be level five."

"Level five?"

"The starters given to trainers are level five so they know a few attacks that are useful. He is level one judging by how young he looks."

"Can I keep him?"

"He obviously likes you,"

The little pokemon made a cute growling noise.

(He doesn't want to stay here.)

"... and I wouldn't part you two even if it were against the rules."

"Thank you." He rubbed the pokemon's ears and laughed as it playfully clawed at his hand.

"Think I'll call you Scorch." The fire type yipped happily, seeming to like the name.

"Which pokemon do you want me to put down as your starter?" the professor asked.

"Does it matter?"

"Not really. Just pick one and I'll put it on your trainer ID."

"What's that for again?"

"It will let people know you're a trainer."

"Put Sylveon as my starter then."

"Ok I'll make a note that you got the Fennekin from me." The fire pokemon growled.

"Ok ok. I'll write that I gave you Scorch." The pokemon seemed satisfied by this, breathing hot air over Jace's arm. He shivered.

"Prof. Sycamore I have the recordings done." Shari said as she walked in. Why does she always have to be so loud?

"Alright. Plug it into the computer and start copying files on the pokedex, the poke-etch, the gym challenge, the coordinator's challenge, and anything we have on items."

"Yes sir." the girl said, doing just that. Jace knew because he heard the same noises from earlier when the professor had plugged in his pokedex.

"They're copying." she said and then giggled again.

"Don't you have somewhere to be? The Ariados are laying right now."

"Yes sir." Shari said as she left again.

"I just finished some upgrade programs for the pokedex recently. Would you like me to install them for you?"

* (What are programs?) *

(Something to do with computers.)

"What do they do?"

"They mostly give you more information about pokemon, and also allow you to scan items, locations, and what pokemon can usually be caught in those areas."

"Go ahead and update it."

There was a lot of typing.

"Professor?"

"Yes?"

"How do I take care of my pokemon?"

"Well, you can groom them and you need to feed them pokefood. There are also poffins and various items to promote certain changes in them."

* (What's a poffin?) *

(I don't know.)

"What do poffins do?"

"They are mostly for pokemon contests, something that coordinators take part in. They boost things like a pokemon's beauty and toughness. There will be more information in the file on coordinating."

(Aren't files usually a bunch of words? Ask him what he is going to do about that since you can't see to read them.)

"How will I read the files?"

"No need. I have some files I recorded myself and others that were done by some people who knew about the topics. They are all audio files. I created a program to put onto the recorder so it will read things to you and explain the buttons and functions that I'm putting on it when the files are finished copying."

"Thanks."

Sycamore sighed "That girl is so smitten with you that she keeps forgetting to bring the food I asked her for."

"Smitten?" Jace had asked that out loud without realizing it.

"Smitten you know ... she likes you. You teens would say she wants to get into your pants."

* (Right.) *

(I told you. Even the other human thinks that.)

"I have a machine to make poffins along with a list of ingredients for the most useful ones. I'll have Shari get them when she comes back."

The girl came in right on queue.

"They're doing fine. It looks like it'll be another hour before Betsy lays though."

"Shari go and get Tyler's box will you."

"Sure professor." the Shari said and left.

"I want you out of here as soon as possible. Having you around her isn't safe."

"Why's that?"

"When she wants a guy she'll do anything to get him. It's more for your own safety than anything."

(Good. I don't want you near her either.)

* (I'm beginning to agree with you.) *

"i know poffins are from the Sinnoh region, but they work really well ..." the man said. He seemed to be talking to himself rather than to Jace.

Not soon after Shari came back.

"I have the food and the box." she announced. Jace heard something being put down rather hard and blinked. The girl walked closer to him and giggled. The Fennikin on his lap growled cutely (but definitely in a threatening manner) and so did Sylveon from his place on the floor leaning against Jace's legs.

"Hey Jace. Wanna hhm..."

—- —- —-

When the bitch came back in Sylveon glared at her. He looked up in surprise as the little fire pokemon in Jace's arms growled. It sounded rather cute, but the smoke rings coming out of his ears were nothing to ignore.

"Get away from brother!" the fox growled.

"You hate her too?"

"Yeah. She's creepy and brother is mine."

"You mean ours." He gave the baby pokemon a stern look. It didn't seem to cow him.

"Ours then. But she won't touch him."

"I agree." he growled, focusing his energy to attack the girl with Fairy Wind. Before he could though he watched the fire type do something he shouldn't be able to.

The fox's eyes turned red as it glared at the girl. She seemed surprised and then dropped to the ground hard, hitting her head with a loud thwack.

"That was ... wow."

"There's more ..." Fennekin said as it charged up colored energy in its mouth. Sylveon watched as Jace put a hand on the pokemon's neck and quietly ordered him to stop.

—- —- —-

The professor groaned "As much as I care about her I must thank your Fennekin - sorry - Scorch for putting her to sleep." Jace chuckled, not having known exactly what happened until now.

* (What did he do?) *

(It was impressive. The baby hit him with a powerful Hypnosis and she fell and hit her head. She won't be waking up anytime soon.)

* (I'm guessing he shouldn't know how to do that yet?) *

(He shouldn't be able to do it at all. But it looks like he was bred with a psychic or ghost pokemon.)

* (Uhm ...) *

(They are the only types that could give that attack to a child pokemon.)

* (Can you tell me more about this later?) *

(Sure.)

The fire type yipped happily.

"Fenn kin! Fenn Kin!" (I did it! I did it!) Sylveon translated. Jace rubbed the pokemon's ears affectionately and the baby blew hot air onto his arm, running his little claws across Jace's arm.

* (Should I be worried that he keeps doing that?) *

(No. That's how they usually show they like you. I've never seen a baby so active. You do have a Sylveon as a starter though so I guess anything's possible.)

* (Huh?) *

(Normally the starters are only fire water or grass. I'm a fairy type.)

"Go ahead and look in the box. You can have anything you want. Tyler said that I should give the stuff in there to anyone who needed it." the professor said, bringing Jace back into reality once more. It was so easy to get caught up in his own head when talking with Sylveon.

"What's in there?"

"A lot of things, just check it out. I'll tell you what things are."

Jace wasn't sure what to do with the fox on his lap. The baby made the decision for him, digging his claws into the human's shirt, climbing, and then wrapping himself around the boy's neck.

Jace laughed "Just don't hold on too tight or you'll choke me."

"Fenn kin fen!" (I wouldn't do that!) Sylveon translated again.

"Glad to hear it. I really like you."

"Fenn!" (Yay!) was the answer Sylveon told him from the fox.

Jace bent down and opened the box after Sylveon told him where it was. Inside were many items, but what stood out right away was a metal object that was pretty heavy when Jace picked it up.

"That's the poffin machine. Normally you have to cook the ingredients to make the poffins, but Tyler bought that machine special. It allows you to put the ingredients in and the machine does the rest. If you have any more questions I put Tyler's audio file on poffins and the machine onto the recorder." Jace felt along the machine's surface, noticing an indentation along one of the sides.

"That's where the finished poffins are stored. There is a pouch for them in the box, it's the only empty one in there." Jace found it and put the poffins he found inside it.

Sylveon tugged at Jace's pant leg.

(If you take off your pack I can put stuff in it for you.)

* (Thanks.) * Jace took the bag off and put it onto the floor.

(I'm putting the food in here first.)

* (Alright.) *

Jace reached in and found another pouch. He opened it and found berries. At least he thought they were berries.

"That's a berry pouch. Don't worry you can put 100 berries in it at a time. Your pack should hold one hundred items too, counting pouches and cases as one item." Jace smiled in the professor's direction and closed the pouch, putting it where Sylveon could reach it.

Next he put the poffin machine and the pouch full of poffins on the ground.

(I got all of it in so far.)

The human found a bag that seemed pretty sturdy next and took it out of the box. He opened it and found brushes, some bottles, and a few things he couldn't identify.

"That's a grooming kit. There are a lot of things in there and I put Tyler's file on the inventory and what everything does onto the recorder for you." Jace closed the bag but before he could put it on the floor Scorch quickly made his way down Jace's body and reached his hip. The pokemon clung there, claws in his Shirt, and sniffed the kit.

"Fenn fenn fen!" (I like this!) Sylveon got from the fox.

"Ok Scorch you'll be the first one I groom."

The fox yipped happily and decided to stay where he was, sinking his claws into the skin under the shirt a little to stay in place. Jace winced slightly but didn't move him.

(I can tell him to move if you want.)

* (No it's fine.) * The kit was put down for Sylveon as well.

The next thing he found was a small box that smelled a little odd.

"That's pokemon food. You can buy it almost anywhere, but that's still good." Jace nodded and it was placed on the floor. A flat thing was next and Jace really had no idea what it was.

"That's a tm and hm case. They are moves you can teach pokemon. Tm's are moves you can get rid of later and hm's are permanent." the professor told him.

Jace opened the case and found some discs inside.

"Are these the moves?"

"The smaller one's are tm's and the larger ones are hm's."

Jace picked one up and Fennikin yipped.

(He wants to sniff it.)

"Go ahead." Jace told the little pokemon, holding the disc near its face.

"How did you know? You can't see him." the professor asked.

"Sylveon is translating for me."

"The pokedex can tell you what tm's and hm's those are." the man said, handing said device to him. Jace nodded and flipped it open.

"I am Dexter." it said. Jace held up the disc in his hand and the device beeped.

"That is tm 03 Psyshock." Jace did this with the other discs and discovered that he also had tm 10 Hidden Power, tm 27 Return, tm 61 Will-o-Wisp, tm 66 Payback, tm 75 Swords Dance, and hm 03 Surf. He slipped them all back into the case (after letting Scorch sniff each one) and put it on the floor. The pokedex was shoved into the pocket of his jeans.

He found another strange looking object and held it up. It looked like a regular box, but Jace wondered why it had a lock.

"That's a seal case. You slide the cartridges inside a poke ball when there is no pokemon inside it. When you put a pokemon in and then let it out again there will be a cool effect. A few of these are confetti, stars, and hearts. Tyler left fifteen different ones in there."

(That sounds interesting. I don't like the idea of being put in a poke ball though.) The fox yipped.

(He doesn't like it much either, but will go in if necessary.)

Jace shrugged "I won't make either of you stay in one if you don't want to." He wondered what would be shown from the seals in the box.

"That reminds me, Tyler left a key for the box somewhere in here ..."

After a few minutes Sycamore put a key in Jace's hand.

"Don't loose it."

(There is a little pocket in the pack I can put that in if you like.)

* (That would be great.) * Sylveon tugged the key from his hand and stashed it. He placed the box on the ground to be put into the pack.

"Seals are from Sinnoh, but they are really popular in contests. Coordinators use them a lot. I'll put the file on them onto the recorder for you."

Jace grabbed three small things from inside Tyler's box and held them out.

"Those are rare candies. I didn't think he'd leave those behind. They're rare and useful."

Jace frowned in confusion.

"What do they do?"

"They elevate pokemon one level. So for instance Scorch there, a level one, would become a level two without needing to battle."

(Want those in the little pocket too?)

* (Yeah.) *

There wasn't much left in the box. Jace found another pack, a few poke balls, and some other unidentifiable things. He picked up the stuff he didn't recognize and showed it to the professor.

"That band is a Choice Band. If you give it to a pokemon the first attack they use will be much stronger. In battle that attack will be the only one they can use, but it will be much stronger. You can use different attacks every battle if you want. Oh and feel free to take the poke balls in there. They're nothing special but they'll get the job done."

Jace nodded, wondering what he'd do with it.

(I could use that if that's ok with you?)

* (Sure take it.) *

(Ok I'll put it around my neck since it's big enough.) The poke balls were stowed into the bag too.

There was a lump that felt almost like a rock as well.

"That's Charcoal. It enhances the power of fire type moves. I'd give it to Scorch if I were you." Jace held it in front of the pokemon in question. He yipped.

(He wants it. Is there a chain or something so he can wear it?)

"Do you have a chain or cord so he can wear it?"

"Let me look." The professor rummaged around in the box and pressed something metallic into Jace's hand.

"Here this should work nicely. See the loop of metal on the top? Attach the chain there." Jace did so and looped the chain around the fire type's neck.

"That's everything. You already have a pack so you won't need his." the man said. Jace nodded. Yeah this should be a good start.

"Before you go I would like to give you my number so you can call me on your poke-etch."

"Alright." Jace pressed Kimii's talk button and entered the number as Sycamore recited it.

"That's it. You know where to go from here?"

Jace smiled slightly.

"Yeah. I find the pokemon center to sleep in and get a room, get some new clothes, and find the store for supplies."

"That's right. Anything else you need you can find either on the recorder or on your poke-etch. You do have a map of Kalos right?"

"Yeah."

"Then I wish you good luck. I'll keep in touch."

Jace nodded, gently removing Scorch and relocated him to his previous position on his neck, and reached down for Sylveon. The fairy type jumped into his arms and then climbed up to his shoulder, wrapping his tendrils around both the human and the other pokemon. Jace was about to leave the lab when he remembered something. He turned back to ask the man.

"Did a guy named Black come here earlier?"

The professor chuckled. "Yeah he sure did. Told me to make sure you knew he was doing alright. Said he'd try and make it to the next town by tonight." That's disappointing. I wanted to see him again.

(Looks like someone has feelings for a certain male trainer.)

* (Shut up. I don't know how I feel about him.) *

(I'm pretty sure I do, but until you know, I think I'll keep it to myself.)

* (Have it your way.) *

"Are you interested in him?"

(I'm pretty sure he doesn't mean as just a friend.)

* (What do you mean?) *

(When humans say that they usually mean dating or fucking.)

* (Oh right.) *

He shook his head. "We're just friends at the moment. I do like being around him though."

"Just ... if you hurt him I will hurt you."

(D. not. threaten. my. trainer.)

"Fenn!"

(He agrees with me.)

* (Thanks for the support.)

"Don't worry, I won't."


	4. Chapter 4

Key:

(…) = Sylveon mind speech

* (…) * = jace mind speech

A/N: In the story it will say Alyx, Kalyx, and Black. They are the same person. Kalyx is my version of Calem in the game. Later you will see someone with the name Calem, but I chose the name as a placeholder for another rival. So to clear this up. Alyx/Kalyx/Black is the main character you would play in the game and Calem is just another rival in this story.

3\. Aquacorde Rivals and Shopping

He activated Kimii's map feature once he was outside.

"Aquacorde Town. Notable locations: Potion shop Poke ball shop Heal Shop Seri's Store." No pokemon center? Why didn't the professor tell me?

(Was I the only one who noticed there's no pokemon center here?)

* (I heard. What are we supposed to do for sleeping and healing you two?) *

(Ask the machine.)

"Kimii, where can I heal my pokemon?"

"The Heal Shop. The owner heals pokemon for a price."

"How much?"

"Twenty five poke dollars a visit."

(There's your answer.)

After finding out Seri's Store was where he could buy clothing Jace had Kimii give him directions. He walked in and almost covered his ears when a loud chime sounded.

(What's with humans and making so much noise?)

* (Why are you asking me?) *

"Hello sir. What can I get you?" a woman asked. He blinked and then made his way over to the counter with some help from Sylveon.

He smiled a little "I need some new clothes."

"Yes you do. We have several things here that may interest you."

"Like what?"

"What exactly are you looking for?"

"Something that's comfortable, but doesn't get in the way."

"Ahh so you're a trainer then. I think I have the perfect thing. Wait here." The lady went off somewhere and Jace waited.

"So, what colors do you like?" Jace almost jumped at the voice.

"Black and dark blue." Where did that come from?

"Alright. I have a shirt that's much like the one you're wearing in either black or dark blue. I also have some jeans you might like in the same colors." He thought for a moment and then shrugged.

"I'll take the blue shirt and the black pants."

"I noticed your boots are well-worn. Would you like to buy new ones?"

He shook his head. "No. Uhhh can you clean them for me though?"

A short laugh "It will cost you just like the rest, but sure I can. We have some shoe shine that will make them look good as new."

Jace nodded. "How much is everything?"

It was silent for a moment. "It will all cost 350 poke dollars. If you want the shoes shined here that will be an additional 50 poke."

"Alright. I'll take everything along with the shoe cleaning."

"Can I interest you in some of our accessories while you wait?"

"Ok ..."

"Malin will be out to help you in a few minutes." the woman said, putting a hand on his arm.

He blinked, remembering what he'd just agreed to. He bent down and unlaced his boots, giving them to the woman.

"I'll have these out as soon as I can." she said and left.

(So who's this Malin person?)

* (Dunno. Someone who works here maybe.) *

Someone cleared their throat.

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"I am Malin. Tabitha sent me to help you pick out some accessories."

He nodded "What do you have?"

"Lots of things sir. Follow me." Sylveon told him where to go so he could follow the man.

"First we have the poke ball belts, an essential for any trainer."

(They're belts with holes cut into them.)

"You can put your poke balls into their slots for easy carrying." Malin said.

"Alright what kinds do you have?"

"Some made of leather, two made of rope, and one made of metal."

"Can I see the metal one?"

Malin put something into his hands and he felt along its surface. Indeed there were slots, six of them.

"How much?"

"One hundred poke sir."

"I'll take it. What else do you have?"

"We have some wrist bands over here, they're really popular."

Jace made his way over to where he'd heard the man's voice.

"There are blue, dark green, red, orange, white and black wrist bands. They all have different designs on them."

"I'll take something in black."

"Alright. That leaves the Pikachu wristband set, the Leafeon set, the Pansage set, and a few stand-alone wrist bands to choose from."

He thought for a moment. "What do you have in the stand alones?"

"We have a Pyroar, a Bidoof, a Pidgey, an Umbreon, and a Trapinch."

(Bidoof looks like a squirrel, Pidgey is a small bird, Trapinch is really weird-looking, Umbreon is a fox with dark coloring and rings in a few places. It also has a crescent moon in the middle of its forehead.)

* (What about the Pyroar?) *

(He hasn't held up that one yet. I just recognized the rest.)

"Can I take a closer look at the Pyroar band?"

"Sure."

Something covered in plastic was placed into Jace's hands. He traced the design, finding a lion.

"Each band represents a type of pokemon. Pyroar is fire-type, Bidoof is normal-type, Trapinch is ground-type, Pidgey is flying-type, and Umbreon is dark-type." Scorch yipped happily and he wondered why.

(He says he likes the lion and wants you to buy it.) translated the Sylveon.

* (We'll see.) *

"Can I see the Umbreon band?" Malin handed it to him. Just like Sylveon said it was a fox. He could just barely feel the outline of a crescent moon on its head.

(The Pyroar is done in red and orange. I really like the Umbreon myself though. It's been stitched in silver.)

"Those will be 250 poke if you buy both of them." Malin said before he could ask.

He nodded "I'll take both then."

Fennekin yipped and nuzzled his shoulder from his perch around the boy's neck.

"We also sell cases for electronics. Do you have a pokegear, pokedex, or a pokenav?"

"Just the pokedex. I do have something that I might wanna put in a case though if you have one."

"And what's that?" He removed his pack and rummaged around in it for a moment, finally grabbing both the pokedex and the digital recorder the professor had given him.

"Hmmm we don't make cases for that. If you are willing to pay a little extra I can make one for you though."

"Extra?"

"It will be 300 poke instead of the usual 125."

"Sounds good."

"Would you like it to be black or another color?"

"Black is fine."

The man took the recorder and the pokedex while Sylveon led him to the counter.

(I hope they have a place you can change in here.)

* (Yeah that would be nice.) *

"I have the boots finished. Even cleaned them for you. Where's Malin?" the woman asked as she made her way toward him.

"He said he was going to make a case for my digital recorder."

"Ahh a custom-made case. I'll tally the total for you." There were some dinging noises and also typing.

"That will be 1050 poke dollars sir."

He nodded "Alright. Can I pay for them now?"

"That's fine sir. We have dressing rooms so where you can change if you'd like."

"That would be great."

He paid the amount, put what was ready into his pack, and took the clothes and boots to one of the changing rooms. Sylveon had directed him there and now told him what was in the tiny room.

(Not much, just a chair tiny table and a mirror.)

* (What's a mirror?) *

(Humans use them to look at themselves.)

Jace peeled off his torn and damaged clothing, letting it fall to the floor. He slipped the jeans on, covering up his boxers. The shirt was next, shortly followed by the boots. He also slid on the wristbands. He'd put the two pokemon on the ground to change, and knelt so they could climb back into their places before exiting the room.

"I've finished the case for this machine." Malin said as he grabbed Jace's arm. The boy gently pulled it back and blinked a few times.

(He is giving you a weird look.)

* (What kind of 'weird' look?) *

(I'm not sure how to describe it. It's almost as if he expected you to stop when he talked to you.) Alright ...

Malin put the newly made case into his hands and also gave him back the pokedex, now in a case of its own.

"I checked to make sure that both items fit already."

"Thanks." He found the counter again and slipped the pokedex and the recorder back into his pack. He thought he might really like the cases, but didn't feel like lingering to examine them here.

"SIR." He stopped just in front of the door and turned to face Tabitha.

"Yes?"

"I have a few things I'd like to give you."

He shrugged "Like what?"

"Since you spent more than 1000 poke dollars I'm supposed to give you a poke ball necklace. Also I couldn't help but notice the burns you have. I can give you some medical supplies to help with that."

"I'll get them." Malin said and walked off.

"I have this nice paste that works well on burns. It's designed for both humans and pokemon." she said.

"Here you go." Malin said as he gave Jace some items. He stowed the necklace in his bag and carried the rest.

"Use the paste and then wrap the worst burns. I can help you if you like. It also helps with cuts as well." Tabitha instructed.

"I think I can take care of this myself. Can I use one of your dressing rooms? Some of them are ... under my shirt."

"Go ahead."

He found a bucket of water in the dressing room he entered. There was a rag as well and he used both to clean his wounds. They stung like hell, but were clean at least. He (with the help of both pokemon) got all the injuries covered with the paste, wrapping his wrists tightly with the gauze Tabitha had given him. The wristbands didn't fit over the bandaging so he put them back into his pack for the time being. After that was taken care of he re-dressed and left the shop.

"Where to now?"

(I have no idea. You're the trainer.)

He bit his lip, thinking.

"Kimii read me the directions to the Poke ball shop." She was able to find them pretty quickly.

—- —- —-

He stepped into the small shop and Sylveon told him where the counter was.

"What would you like?" a boy asked.

"What poke balls do you sell here?"

"Just the standard red and white ones. If you buy ten of them I'll give you a Premier Ball for free."

"Premier Ball?"

"It's like a standard Poke Ball, but it's white and silver."

"Alright I'll take 10 poke balls then."

The boy typed something for a moment. "That will be 2000 poke dollars."

Jace took off his backpack and rolled the balls into it.

"Here's your Premier Ball." the boy said as he handed it to him. That ball also went into the bag.

"Is that all sir?"

"Yes thanks." Jace said as he left.

The next stop was the Potion shop.

(I've heard that Potions are useful, but they aren't that powerful.)

* (Why's that?) *

(Supposedly they heal 20 hp.)

* (Hp?) *

(Hit points. Say a pokemon has 48 hp and takes 30 damage. With a Potion you can then bring its hp back to 38 points.)

* (Could be useful.") *

"It's all we'll have till the next town.)

The Potion shop was right next to the Poke ball Shop. He pushed open the door and winced as a bell jingled loudly.

* (Too loud ...) *

(You're not the only one who thinks that. My ears hurt too and Scorch is complaining about the 'loud sound.') The little fox was yipping frantically and Jace stroked his ears to calm him.

At the counter a woman greeted him.

"Hi. You're here to buy Potions right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm the only one here right now."

"Ok."

"I guess I'm taking care of you then." she said.

(Oh great she's giving you that look.)

* (Which one?) *

(The look that the bitch from the lab gave you.)

* (Oh that's just wonderful.) *

"How much are the Potions?"

"They're 300 poke each."

"I'll take six of them."

"That'll be 1800 poke dollars." He gave the girl the money, put the Potions into his bag, and got out of there.

(That was annoying. I was just waiting for SCORCH to start growling.)

"Fenn fen kin!" (I hated her!) the fairy type translated.

* (I didn't like her much either.) *

(Scorch says that you're ours and no one will take you away.)

* (That's ...) *

(I agree with him. The only human I would consider letting touch you is Black ... that other girl wasn't too bad though ... What was her name again?)

* (Shauna.) *

—- —- —

JACE decided to train and see about catching some more pokemon. Just before he reached Route 2 (the closest grass to catch pokemon going away from Aquacorde) somebody ran into him. He almost fell, but managed to keep his feet.

"Sorry ..." a girl said from what sounded like the ground. Shauna?

"It's alright." He held out a hand to help her up.

She took it. "Hi Jace."

"It's nice to see you too Shauna. Do you always run into people when you meet up with them?"

She laughed "Nah just you." He shrugged, reaching up to rub Fennekin's ears since the fox had started yipping again.

"That's a cute Fennikin. Wanna battle?"

"Sounds good."

* - * - * —-

Sylveon watched as the girl grabbed a poke ball from her belt. She threw it.

"Go Chespin!" The pokemon that came out of the ball had a large shell on its back and was covered in quills.

"You're up Sylveon." Jace said and he jumped onto the boy's arm before climbing down his body and to the ground. He glared at the grass type, knowing it was the one who rejected his trainer earlier.

(So master, what's first?)

* (That's the grass type right?) *

(Yeah.)

* (Use Tail Whip first then use Tackle. Let's test its defense.) *

(You got it.) He wagged his tail, watching the grass type for its reaction.

It just stood there for a moment, not doing anything.

"Use Vine Whip." the girl instructed. Vines came at him and he couldn't dodge in time. One hit him.

(Thanks for telling me to dodge that.) he said sarcastically.

* (Sorry I'm kinda new to this. You want me to tell you to dodge too?) *

(Yeah that's the idea. Remember to tell me what to do out loud. The girl will look at us funny soon if you don't.)

* (Alright. Use Tackle and dodge if it tries attacking again.) *

(Good enough.)

"Tackle." Jace said out loud.

"Nice try! Vine whip again."

* (Dodge that.) * This time he was fast enough to dodge the attack. He'd been expecting it anyway. He slammed into the other pokemon hard, knocking it over.

"Get up! Use Rollout."

* (Can you dodge that?) *

(Probably since it's really slow.)

* (Dodge and charge up a Fairy Wind while you do.) *

"Dodge and use Fairy Wind." He watched in sick satisfaction as the grass type kept missing him.

* (Attack now.) *

(Ok boss.)

The pink dust hit and did a lot of damage. The shelled pokemon did not faint however.

(Can this thing survive an attack from a Rhydon?!)

* (RHYDON?) *

(Very powerful rock type.)

* (Use Sand Attack then finish this with another Fairy Wind.) *

(Ok.)

"Sand Attack then Fairy Wind." He hit the Chespin with a wall of sand, making it cry out in frustration. Yeah take that you stupid shell!

"Show them your Tackle!" The poor pokemon could hardly see well enough to move.

"Fairy Wind."

He charged up the attack, making sure to keep the blinded Chespin in his sights.

"Rub your eyes clean." He looked down to see that the dust was surrounding him.

* (Strike now.) * He let the attack loose, smirking as the shelled pokemon fell to the ground. He moved closer and could see swirls in its eyes.

(One down.)

"Use your Fennikin now. That's the one I wanna see fight anyway." the girl said. He glowered at her and his ears twitched.

* (It's a good idea actually. Fennekin needs some battle experience, he's level one remember.) *

(Right.) He made his way over to Jace and climbed to his customary spot on the boy's shoulder.

He smiled a little as his trainer untangled the fox from around his neck and placed the baby on the ground.

"It's your turn."

* (Can you translate for me?) *

(Sure.) *

—- —- —-

He smiled slightly as Brother put him down. He looked at the girl and walked forward to stand in front of his human.

"Go Pidgey!"

His ears twitched in irritation at the voice. It's so loud!

"Fenn!" (Why are you so loud!)

"Use Scratch." Why that one? He ran over and scratched the bird across the face. It squawked indignantly and he laughed a little. He moved back to his trainer.

The bird looked angry now.

"Come on let's show them! Use Gust!"

"Dodge that." I really don't like its feathers ... they look funny. He wasn't very fast, but he studied the bird and then stepped aside right before it blew wind into him.

"Fen!" (You're too slow!)

"Again!" He was so wrapped up in his little victory that the wind hit him before he knew it was coming. He fell over, yipping in alarm.

"Get up. You're alright." He groaned and picked himself up. That was stupid ... He grinned, blowing smoke out of his ears.

(It looks like he's mad now.)

* (How can you tell?) *

(When he blows smoke out of his ears it usually means he's mad. I've been watching him.)

* (That's kinda creepy you know.) *

(I help you out with stuff so I gotta watch.)

* (So what's he doing now?) *

(Preparing an attack. I don't recognize it though.)

* (That's odd.) *

(It might be Ember, but I don't think so.)

* (What should I say out loud then?) *

(You're the trainer remember. Doesn't the pokedex have a Scan Moves feature?)

* (Yeah.) *

(Use it when he attacks.)

He glared at the Pidgey and let his eyes turn red. He stood there and let the fire inside him build up. When he thought it was ready he let loose a wave of fire, hoping it would make the bird stop shooting wind at him. He really hated that.

"What is that?" the girl asked. He could see the fear on her face. He looked at Brother out of the corner of his eye and saw him take out one of the square boxes he carried. He thought it was called 'Dexter.'

"Heat Wave the wave attack. By exhaling hot breath on the target this attack may leave a burn." Yeah!

"So that's what it's called ..." Brother mumbled. He just smiled as the attack hit the bird and it fell to the ground with a groan of pain. It did not get up.

—- —- —-

He smiled and knelt down to rub the fox's ears. Scorch yipped happily and he drew the baby pokemon into his arms. Maybe not so much of a baby anymore ... He took the pokedex from his pocket and flipped it open.

"Fennekin the fox pokemon." After fiddling with the buttons for a moment it said

"Calculating ..." He sighed, hugging the fire type as he waited.

"Fennekin is lv 5. It has recently learned Ember. It's current attacks are Scratch, Tail Whip, Hypnosis Ember and Heat Wave." He smiled, holding out his arm for the starter. It climbed on and dug its claws into his hip again, but he didn't mind. He was just glad they'd won. He'd been a little worried since Scorch was such a low level and had no battle experience.

"That was a great battle. It looks like I'll havta find the pokemon center around here. Do you know where it is?" He shook his head and stood up.

"There isn't one. The shop with the poke ball and the plus sign on it is where you go to heal your pokemon."

"Thanks."

He nuzzled Sylveon's cheek.

* (You were both great out there.) *

(Did my best. Was surprised Scorch did so well actually.)

* (So was I. Might need to tell him to consult me first before he goes and uses really strong attacks I don't know about though.) *

(Yeah that's a good idea.)

"Jace?" He thought she might have been trying to talk to him for a while since she sounded a little annoyed.

"Sorry was in my own little world. What is it?"

"I asked if you wanted my number. I'd love to battle you again once my pokemon are leveled up some more."

He smiled slightly.

"I'd like that." What's yours?"

They exchanged numbers and she put something into his hand.

"What's this?"

"I want you to have it. It's a Lucky Egg." He scanned it with his pokedex, finding out it was pretty rare.

"You sure you don't need this?"

"Yeah you keep it. It'll be useful. You can have this too."

She put a small box into his free hand. When he opened it there was a pleasant smell coming from it.

(I like that. What is it?)

* (I have no idea.) *

"Shauna what is this?"

"It's a Luck Incense. When you battle trainers you'll get twice the amount of money you normally would if a pokemon holding that fights during the battle." He smiled and put them into his pack.

"Thank you. Shouldn't I give you something too?"

She giggled "Only if you want to." He thought for a moment, finally taking out one of the Rare Candies he'd gotten from the professor.

"here," he said, giving it to her after Sylveon told him where her hand was.

"I can't take this. It's a Rare Candy."

"Why not?"

"Do you know how much these cost?" she asked, almost as if she thought he was stupid.

"Tell me."

"Over 6000 poke and that's just for one. You're sure? I mean I could ..."

He closed her fingers around it.

"I want you to have this."

She chuckled "Does this mean we're friends now?"

He smiled "I guess it does."

He thought for a moment. "Have you seen Black around here at all?"

"No I haven't. Knowing him he probably went to catch some pokemon and then made his way to the next town by now."

He frowned slightly.

"Did you wanna see him or something?"

He felt his face heat a little.

She giggled "You like him don't you?" What?

"Come on, I'm not stupid y'know." He ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't really know."

She sighed "How can you not know?"

"I ... I've never liked anyone like that before."

"Oh that must be a little awkward then. You don't like girls though?"

He shrugged "Never really thought about it. I can't stop wondering what he's doing though."

"Sounds like love to me."

(She's teasing you.)

* (Huh?) *

(She's grinning like an idiot.)

* (Uh what?) *

(Don't tell me I havta explain expressions to you too.)

* (I'm just confused is all.) *

(She's grinning like an idiot because she thinks it's funny. Y'know a joke.)

* (I think so ...) *

(Just ...' she's teasing you trust me.)

"SORRY if I made you angry or something. I was really just playing around."

"You're fine. I'm just ... not good with talking to people."

"Oh ok then. That's alright."

"Yeah." She left then and he made his way to the Heal Shop.

—- —- —-

Several minutes later he stepped onto the grass just outside Aquacorde. According to Kimii this was Route 2. He found and caught a Bunnelby, which he wasn't sure what to do with since it was a normal type. He had wanted a psychic or fighting type, but there didn't seem to be any around. Fennekin and Sylveon took turns battling and both managed to grow a few levels. He also caught a Fletchling, which he named Rocky. She was very stubborn and when he brought up a nickname she said she would only answer to that. Before going to the next area (which Kimii assured him was Santalune forest) he healed his pokemon.

—- —- —-

It didn't take long for Shauna to find him again.

"Hi." she said when he'd barely been in the forest a few minutes.

"You aren't looking for a battle yet are you?" he asked warily.

"No. Just someone to get through this forest with. I've heard it's a little creepy in here."

He shrugged "Sure why not."

He found several items, including Potions, Poke balls, and an Antidote. Shauna also gave him a Paralyze Heal at some point. He had Fennikin and Sylveon battle everything they came across, but it was mostly just bugs and Pidgey.

Finally he came across something useful. The pokedex said it was called a Panpour. It was supposed to be a monkey that was a water type.

"Hey Rocky wanna battle?"

(It's a water type. No.) Sylveon translated for him.

He scanned the Panpour with his pokedex.

"It doesn't know any water attacks yet."

(Ok sounds fun.) He'd given her the Luck Incense since she liked fighting so much. She flapped down from his wrist and chirped a challenge to the water monkey.

* - * - * —-

She eyed the monkey like it had two heads. It looked really weird.

"Use Peck." She chirped an affirmative and flew toward the water type. It dodged. No!

"Use Quick Attack." I agree with that completely.

She did much better this time. Her attack hit at least, but the monkey didn't seem phased much.

"Can you do Quick Attack and ready a Peck at the same time?"

(Yes of course! Did you think I was an idiot?!)

"No ... Do that then." She smirked, readying the combo. The water pokemon wouldn't know what hit it when she was done.

Both attacks did quite a bit of damage but it was still standing. She screeched in anger but he called her back. She disappeared into the ball and was silent. The monkey looked at the human in confusion.

"She can get way out of control sometimes. I am almost worried to let her evolve into Fletchinder."

\- —- -

He shook Sylveon slightly.

* (I'm not in the mood to completely knock him out at the moment.) *

(So what do you want me to do?)

* (Can you ask him if he wants to come with us?) *

(Why don't you do it and I'll translate?)

* (That'll work.) *

"You put up a good fight. Would you like to come with me and the rest of my team?"

(He says he would like that.) Sylveon giggled.

* (What?) *

(He wishes you to keep the bird away from him. Those were his words not mine ...)

* (I don't get it.) *

(Never mind ...)

—- —- —-

He watched the human curiously as the bird was put into a poke ball. He listened to the boy's explanation with some interest. A pokemon out of control? He told the Sylveon that he wanted to travel with them and then walked toward the human.

"Is it really necessary for me to be in a poke ball?"

The boy shrugged "It's a good idea at least. Tell you what, if you let me capture you, I won't make you stay in one unless it's better to have you in there." He nodded, that sounded agreeable. When the human didn't respond he wasn't sure what to think.

"Why did you ignore my answer?" It took a few moments, but the teen finally knelt down in front of him. What are you doing?

"Sorry, I didn't know you had. I'm blind." It was said in such a nonchalant way that he laughed a little.

"That makes sense. How do you get around then?"

"Sylveon helps me."

He blinked slowly, noticing something odd. He'd discovered it earlier, but hadn't thought anything of it.

"How are we talking right now? It's like you ... understand me."

"I do. Well I understand Sylveon and he's translating for me."

"But he's not talking at the moment."

"He's talking inside my head ... in a language I understand."

"That is odd. I've never heard of a human being able to do that. And trust me, I've seen a lot of humans pass through here."

The boy shrugged "I know it's weird. That doesn't mean I won't use it though."

"Admirable. Show me these poke balls you keep mentioning." The boy pulled out a red and white ball and put it on the ground in front of him.

"Is this the only one you have?"

"No, but all the rest look like this too." He picked up the ball and studied it critically.

"I do not like the coloring. It is too bland."

"I do have one more ..." the boy said as he pulled the bag from his back and reached inside. It took him a few minutes, but the boy finally brought out a white and silver ball and rolled it over to him. When he saw it he immediately knew he wanted this one.

"I really like this one."

"Alright the Premier Ball it is then."

"What would you like me to do?" The boy gave him a blank look.

"I've watched humans, but I don't know how this 'capturing' business works."

The youth nodded "just tap the button on the ball and it will suck you in." He did that, not liking it much inside. It took him several tries, but he did manage to escape eventually.

"I would rather not be in there if it's not necessary." he complained.

"That's fine. Would you like to hitch a ride like these two?" The male pointed to the fairy type and fire type draped over him.

"No, I'll be fine walking."

He was happy to see his new trainer smile.

"I have something to give you." the boy said as he looked inside the bag again. He brought out an egg attached to a chain. What's that?

"I have no idea what that is." he said. His trainer put it around his neck.

"It's called a Lucky Egg. It will boost the experience you get in battle by 50 percent ... and make you level up faster."

He smiled slightly "Do you have a Water Stone? I would like to evolve into Simipour at some point."

"Not yet, but I can get one." He smiled at the boy and went to lean against his leg.

—- —- —-

Not too long after capturing the Panpour a Pikachu stepped into the path in front of him. Jace scanned it and found out that it was pretty strong.

(Our monkey friend wants to take this one on. Crazy huh?)

* (If he wants to battle an electric type and probably get his ass kicked then let him.) The battle went better than expected. Panpour had learned some new moves (including Water Gun) and that helped immensely.

The Pikachu was so impressed by the water type's determination that she decided to come with them. He had the idea to call her Shock and she agreed. He smiled and let the poke ball swallow her up. He had six pokemon now and was very happy about it. He went back to Aquacorde and healed his pokemon.

—- —- —-

He decided to spend the night in a clearing underneath a tree. Panpour taught him to make a bed out of leaves, which would have to do for now. He would get some camping gear in the next town in case sleeping outside became a frequent activity. Just as he was about to go to bed his poke-etch rang. He groaned and pressed the talk button.

The voice on the other end had him perking up in more than just the mind. He put his free hand over his crotch, not understanding what was going on. He ignored it the best he could and listened to Black talk about his day. He'd made it to the next town alright and wanted to meet him there tomorrow.

"So did you do anything interesting today?" the other boy asked.

"I battled Shauna and some other trainers ... bought useful items ... and then I caught more pokemon."

"Oh which ones?"

"Fletchling, Bunnelby, Pikachu and Panpour."

"You found a Panpour! I wanted one, but looked for a Pansear instead since I already have a water pokemon."

"You started with Froakie?"

"Yeah what's so weird about that?"

He sighed "Nothing. It's just that the professor had one and you got there before me ..."

"Wait I thought you already had a pokemon."

"I do, but Sycamore gave me a starter since he said there were extras."

"So which one did you get? How many pokemon do you have now?"

He chuckled "One at a time Kalyx."

For some reason the trainer didn't take offense.

"If you're gonna use my first name at least shorten it."

"To what?"

"Kal or Alyx is fine."

"Which one do you want me to call you?"

"I like Alyx actually ..."

There was silence for a moment.

"So ... uh about your pokemon?"

He laughed "Yeah ... I've got six now."

"Wow. I've only got four."

"I chose Fennikin by the way."

"That's great. That's the fox fire type right?"

"Yeah ..."

The conversation went on for a while, but Jace was definitely getting tired.

"You keep saying you want to meet me there, but what are we gonna do?"

"Maybe battle ... I just wanna hang out with you."

(Hang out means ... do something with someone.)

"Ok then ... They do have a pokemon center there right?"

"Yeah they sure do. They have a gym here too. Wanna see how you battle ... Jace."

He felt his face flame and his pants felt tighter. He stroked his cock once and was very glad the other male didn't know about it. He was confused enough already, trying to explain it to the person who was doing this to him would just be way too awkward.

"You ok?"

"Yeah just tired."

"You'll be here tomorrow then?"

"Yes Alyx."

"Good. Sweet dreams ... Jace." The way the boy dragged out his name made him wonder if he was playing around or really knew what his voice was doing to him.


	5. Chapter 5

Key:

(…) = Sylveon mind speech

* (…) * = jace mind speech

4\. Seals Meeting friends and Santalune City

The first thing Jace did after waking up was have Sylveon and Panpour scour the area for berries. Sylveon found Oran berries and Panpour helped carry them. He put them away and opened the container of food he'd gotten from the professor. After eating himself and feeding the pokemon he started searching for more pokemon to catch.

Once he'd checked the pokedex he decided to capture a Pansage and a Pansear. Pansage was a grass type he could use later and Pansear was another fire type. He decided to call the Pansear Flame and the Pansage Leaf. When he caught them the poke balls disappeared. Kimii assured him they were sent to his pc (a machine which could be found at any Pokemon center) since he was carrying six pokemon already.

When he left the forest he stopped under some trees to rest. Healing his pokemon with the Potions didn't take too long. He collected all the poke balls that held pokemon and let them all out.

(They're wondering what's going on.)

* (I'll get to that.) *

"Everyone I have something I'd like to discuss with you." The pokemon went silent after hearing this. They had been chattering to each other and were giving Jace quite the headache.

"I have something called seals I'd like to give you the choice of having attached to your poke balls." Before he went on any further he put the Bunnelby away, having forgotten about it.

"Now, do any of you know what they are?"

(They're all staring at you oddly. Don't think they know.)

He ran a hand through his hair before taking out the bottle of water Black had given him and sipping from it. He removed his pack and searched inside until he found the case with the seals in it. He opened it and scanned each one, having Kimii tell him what they were and what they looked like. The pokedex could have been used for this, but he decided against it.

There were several different types of seals. He had 3 of Heart seal b, 3 of Heart seal c, 3 of Heart seal d, and 2 of Heart seal f. Seal b had large pink hearts surrounding a spot, while c and d had little and big black hearts (respectively) surrounding a spot. Seal f was big pink hearts geizering from a spot. He also had 2 each of Star seals c and d along with 3 of Star seal a and b. Star seal e had 5 thankfully. A and b had yellow stars (small and large respectively) while c and d had blue starts (small and large respectively.) Seal e had many yellow stars geizering above a spot and then turning blue as they came down.

There were 4 of Smoke seal b and 3 of Smoke seal c. Black smoke would poof above a spot with b and white smoke would poof below a spot with c. There were 3 each of Ele-sea and d. A and c had yellow lightning bolts while b and d had green. In a and c the lightning bolts flew from the top of a spot and in b and d lightning bolts flew from the bottom of a spot. He had 2 each of Foamy seals b and d. B were many blue bubbles flying away from a spot and d was the same with purple. There were 4 each of Fire seal and d. A and b were smaller and larger flames in red coming from a spot, while c and d were blue flames (smaller and larger) coming from a spot. There were 1 each of song seal and g - which were based off musical notes.

He found 3 of each of the alphabet seals. They were all single letters of the alphabet in various colors. He had 2 Shock seals (red exclamation points) and 2 Mystery seals (blue question marks.) Tyler had also left him 1 Burst seal (displays exploding spheres) 1 Liquid seal (shows water drops) and 1 Twinkle seal (displays sparkling effects.) Three other seals caught his interested.

One of them had black and red fangs exploding around a spot which was called "fang seal." Another had lava showering down from a spot in red and orange the "lava seal." The last one displayed mist in light blue lingering around a spot, the "mist seal." These 'special' seals had 3 each for him to use. Both Kimii and the pokedex told him these were not known seals, but still gave a description of what they did. Tyler must have made them himself.

Rocky (Fletchling) got large yellow and small blue stars, Scorch (Fennikin) got large blue and red flames, Panpour got an explosion of blue bubbles and water drops, Sylveon got mist and a small blue flame, and Shock (Pikachu) got yellow lightning bolts flying from both the top and bottom of a spot as well as green bolts doing the same. There were a lot more green bolts than yellow, which he hoped worked out alright.

The boy attached the seals to the balls and then recalled everyone except Sylveon so the fairy type could tell him how the effects looked. Jace tossed the balls into the air and Sylveon checked them over. SYLVEON approved, saying he wasn't worried about his own. Jace returned Rocky and Shock to their balls and continued on his journey.

— —- —

He battled many trainers on the way to the next town. Kimii told him he would find Santalune City on the other side of this area. He also found and caught a Burmy here, which Kimii said was Route 3. Burmy was a bug type and he decided to call him Moth. Jace found a Super Potion along the way, something Sylveon told him would heal 50 hp. It was definitely better than the Potions he'd been using, but he only had one at the moment. He earned 876 poke dollars from all the trainers and everyone except Sylveon was now level 13. The fairy type was level 19.

— —- —

In Santalune City he went straight to the Pokemon center. After healing his pokemon and putting Bunnelby in the pc Sylveon told him the Pokemart was in the same building. He bought 2 poke balls, 3 Potions, and 1 X Speed. Once he got outside again he explored the town, finding people who gave him items. Jace acquired a Great ball, 3 X attack and 3 X defense.

He stopped near a fountain and had Kimii tell him what was around the city. Other than the places he'd visited there was also a gym and an area to train and catch pokemon nearby. He started off in the direction of the training area, thinking he might catch some more pokemon. Briefly he thought about Alyx, but decided to catch up with him later. If his poke-etch rang he'd answer it though.

— —- —

The first pokemon he encountered once stepping onto Route 22 was a Riolu. After scanning it he found that it was a fighting type. ROCKY was sent out due to the type advantage of flying versus fighting. By this point she'd calmed down some, but still liked to battle.

She looked at the little dog in front of her. Why does it have metal on it? She chirped a challenge and stared it down.

"Use Agility and then Peck." her trainer ordered. Sounds good.

She started to flap, moving faster and faster to raise her speed. Once she was satisfied she glared in the dog's direction. Her beak filled with energy as she dove toward him, landing two hits. She'd gotten so good at it by now she could use Peck twice in a row with no problem. The other pokemon fell to its knees, but did not faint. No!

"Ready your Quick Attack. I'll try to catch it." She chirped in agreement and watched the armored pokemon. Her trainer managed to successfully capture it, giving her nothing to do.

— —- —

Jace withdrew Rocky and picked up the poke ball containing his newest pokemon. He thought he'd call him Trystian. Fennikin yipped and clawed at his neck.

(He wants to ride in a poke ball for a while. Not sure why though.)

* (That's fine. Maybe one of the others will want to stay out.) *

Fennikin was put into its ball and Jace scanned the area with his pokedex for more pokemon to catch.

He found a female Azurill which he caught and named Bubbles and a female Bidoof, another capture. He called her Squirrel. After that he went back to heal his pokemon. He left the newly captured water and normal type pokemon in the pc and kept the Riolu with him. Once he was back on Route 22 he grabbed Riolu's poke ball and threw it. After making sure the pokemon liked its new nickname (Trystian) the fighting type decided to walk along side him instead of returning to its ball.

Jace found several Farfetch'd, but decided not to get one. They didn't have many good moves. He let Riolu take care of them and the Bunnelby he found since he was the weakest pokemon at the moment. Once Trystian reached level 15 and learned the move Force Palm he started training his other pokemon.

After evolving Fletchling into Fletchinder (a fire and flying type) Jace encountered a Litleo. He scanned it and learned it was another fire type.

"Shock you wanna take this one?"

(Sure.) Sylveon translated from the mouse.

The pouches on her cheeks filled with electricity as she came out of her ball. She blinked, dazzled for a moment by the flashes from her ball, and smiled. She really liked the lightning bolts her trainer had chosen as seals for her. She looked the pokemon she was to face up and down and let a few sparks fly from her body to fall harmlessly onto the ground. Whatever this pokemon was, it seemed agitated.

"What's your problem?" she asked it. All she got was a glare for her efforts.

"Fine, don't tell me." Her trainer said something but she didn't catch it. The Sylveon looked at her and she nodded.

"Use Play Nice." the human told her and she smirked, going over to the lion and being friendly. A few minutes later she and the other pokemon were friends and its attack was lowered.

When she came back to stand near her trainer the Litleo attacked. She was just fast enough to dodge thankfully. That was close ...

"Use Thundershock."

She hurled electricity toward the lion and smiled when it hit. It was still going though. Ugh! What do I havta do to keep it down?

After using Quick Attack a few times the other pokemon finally stopped attacking. It glared at her again and she smirked.

"Capture it." she said. Her trainer must have gotten the message since he threw a poke ball, managing to catch the annoyed pokemon.

— —- —

He grinned, closing his hand around the ball for a moment before it disappeared.

"Wanna go back in the ball?" he asked Shock.

(She says yes.)

He clipped the ball to his belt after she was sucked in.

After battling a couple trainers he went back to the Pokemon center and healed his pokemon. He put Rocky in the pc so he could train Litleo, but promised to get her later for the gym battle. He called Litleo Assault and the male lion liked that.

— —- —

After training Litleo and battling the remaining trainers on Route 22 he went back to town. He'd earned 3424 poke dollars and was glad he'd taken the Luck Incense from Rocky and given it to Assault for the time being. He would have gotten a lot less money otherwise. After healing Assault he went to look around town again. He was hoping he'd find Alyx, but wasn't holding his breath since he hadn't heard from the other boy yet today.

In town he found a boy who wanted to trade a Bunnelby for a Farfetch'd. He went to get his (putting Litleo in the pc) and came back to make the trade. The Farfetch'd was female and had been given the nickname Sammy.

(That's weird.)

* (What is?) *

(Sammy is usually a boy's name.)

Jace shrugged, going out to train the Farfetch'd.

— —- —

After Sammy had gotten to level 13 he got a call on his Poke-etch. He pressed the button to answer as he started making his way back to town.

"Yeah?"

"Hi Jace." Alyx's voice came through.

"What you up to?" he asked, honestly curious.

"Not much. Wanna battle?"

After a moment he agreed. "Sounds good. I caught a lot of new pokemon today."

"Like what?"

"You'll havta come and find out. Where do you wanna meet?"

Silence for a moment. "How about the Trainer's school? They have rooms for battling there."

"Sounds good. I'll be there in a few minutes, just gonna put a pokemon in the pc and switch it with another one."

"You won't tell me which one will you?"

"No."

He thought of something before hanging up.

"Alyx?"

"Yeah?"

"How many pokemon do you have now?"

"Four. I've been training hard though. Had some other things to do today and also saw Shauna."

"Alright I'll use four too then." He hung up and kept moving, making it to the Pokemon center in no time.

He decided to use Scorch, Trystian, Assault, and Panpour for the battle. He thought Sylveon might be too strong for this battle and needed him for translating anyway. The fairy type wasn't exactly happy with this, but took the break anyway. Jace was now carrying Fennikin, Panpour, Sylveon, Riolu, Litleo, and Pikachu. The boy returned everyone but Sylveon and Scorch to their poke balls for the short trek to the Trainer's school. They rode in their customary spots on his shoulder (Sylveon) and around his neck (Fennikin.)

A woman started speaking as he entered the school.

"There was a boy who asked for you here a few minutes ago."

"What did he say?"

"He reserved a training room and asked someone to direct you there." After getting directions to the room Jace made his way there.

It didn't take long for the other trainer to arrive.

"Hey."

He smiled slightly "Hi."

"Alright. Let's get started then."

Jace nodded "Ok."

* (Think I'll start with Scorch.) *

The fox looked around and blinked. The other human threw a poke ball a few seconds later.

"Go Tom!" He was confused at first, but after getting a good look at the pokemon he yipped a challenge. Tom was a Butterfree apparently.

"Use Ember." Brother told him. He growled slightly and shot flames from his mouth. The stupid butterfly dodged. Grrr!

"Use Confusion!" He stood there for a moment, not sure what was happening. He barely managed to dodge as some red-ish pink light came toward him. That almost hit me!

"Heat Wave!" Finally!

He grinned and let his mouth fill with the fire that burned so much hotter than any Ember attack could. When it was ready he angled his mouth upward and let it loose. The butterfly fell to the ground and did not get up.

— —- —

(One down.)

* (That was fast.) *

(Scorch is good when he pays attention.)

* (Guess I'll go with Trystian now.)

— —- —

Blinking furiously from the sudden light in the room the fighting type stared at the trainer across from him. What would this human throw at him? He wondered who the other boy was, but didn't have much time to think about it. A poke ball was thrown into the air, drawing his focus back to the battle. He scrutinized what came out of the ball. Is that a frog? You brought a frog to a battle ... What will it do croak loudly at me?

"Splash use Bubble!" You really called him that?

"Dodge that and use Quick attack!" He started off, picking up speed quickly to get out of the way. The bubbles passed harmlessly around him, not hitting him even once. You're not fast enough!

"Quick attack Splash!"

"Use ..." His trainer seemed to be distracted for a moment, not giving him any commands. Damnit! He tried to dodge, but was unable and hit the ground hard when the water type slammed into him. Ow ...

— —- —

(What's wrong with you?!)

* (Huh?) *

(Is he distracting you again? This is so not the time!)

* (Uhh ... yeah.) *

(Wake up!) *

— —- —

It took a few minutes but he finally got the hang of doing things without his trainer's commands. Once he had his feet under him it was easy to dodge every attack. The other human had ordered his frog to keep using Quick attack, and it was getting tired out. Guess it's up to me ...

He closed his eyes in order to concentrate better and charged up electricity in his hand. He ran forward just as the water pokemon stopped to prepare yet another Quick attack and punched it in the face. The frog was stunned, allowing him to punch with the other hand as well. That hand was also filled with the same electrical charge. Froakie fell over and he went up to make sure it had fainted. The water type hadn't been able to stay conscious after the Force Palm attack. Good.

— —- —

(One more down. Not that you care at the moment.)

* (What?) *

(Trystian just finished off that frog by himself because you were ready to beg Black to kiss you.)

* (I was not.) * (Sure you weren't. Get your head back in the game boss.)

* (Right! It's time for Panpour to have a turn.) *

— —- —

The monkey stood there waiting for his opponent. He smiled slightly as another monkey appeared, this one with a flame on its tail. So he'll be my opponent ... a fire type. Pansear you will not beat me. He glared at the other monkey as it smiled at him. I won't befriend you just because you're similar to me.

"Use Incinerate!" Yes, that's such a good idea ...

"Water gun." At his trainer's command he powered up the attack, using water in his tail to help things along. He smirked, directing the water in the fire type's direction. It tried to dodge, but only partially succeeded, falling to the ground and crying out in pain. Pansear looked at its trainer in confusion, which just made the water type snicker.

You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into do you?

"Fury Swipes." He readied his claws, rushing at the other pokemon. Still surprised from the last attack it was unable to dodge, even at the other human's command of "tackle." Several swipes of his claws later and the fire pokemon was moaning in pain and holding its arms where there were deep scratch marks.

"I forfeit the round, there's no way Burn can keep going." the black haired boy said. He blinked, not having expected that.

— —- —

* (He's forfeiting the round?) *

(Yeah. His Pansear is pretty cut up.)

* (What's the damage?) *

(Can't really tell from here. Looks like lots of scratches and I'm sure I saw him take most of that Water gun, even if he tried to dodge.)

* (Wow.) *

"Can we just use our last pokemon now?" he heard Alyx ask.

"Sure I guess ..." This is interesting ...

"Return Burn. Go Sparky!"

(It's a Pikachu.)

* (Alright. Looks like Assault's finishing this battle.) *

(I'll let him know once you get him out here.)

— —- —

The lion glanced around the room curiously as he was sent out. So what am I fighting? Bring it on! He didn't have to wait long to find out. Something yellow caught his eye and he paced closer, trying to get a better look. His opponent appeared to be some sort of mouse. When he moved closer for a better look red patches on its cheeks sparked. Better watch out for those ...

"Thundershock!" He watched the attack charge up, dodging as he did so. His trainer seemed surprised by this. I know how to fight y'know.

"Ember." Gladly. He waited a few seconds for the fire to fill his mouth, then let it go.

It felt good watching the flames hit the mouse and he watched evilly as it ran around trying to put them out. That was fun ... I wish I could do it again.

"Use Headbutt." I haven't used that much ... Keeping his eyes on the Pikachu he stuck out his head and prepared to attack.

Charging into the electric type made it flinch. He blinked, having expected an attack. What's going on?

(Boss says to use Ember again.) Sounds good ... The fire type move scared the Pikachu so badly it went to hide behind its trainer.

— —- — —- — "Normally I would keep going, but Sparky obviously can't fight anymore."

Jace shrugged "If you're sure ..."

"Yeah. Great battle, I learned a lot."

He smiled "Glad to hear it."

Litleo went back into its ball and he walked toward the other boy.

"So what you doing after this?"

"I was thinking of going to battle the gym leader, but I need to train some more first. After battling you I realize that ..."

Another shrug "Alright ..."

"So ... uhhh ... what you gonna do?"

"The gym sounds good. Thought you wanted to watch me battle though?"

"I do. How about we meet at the gym in two hours? I should be ready by then."

"Sounds good."

—- — —- —

Back to the Pokemon center he went, taking some time to figure out what his team would be for the upcoming gym battle. Finally he decided on Sylveon, Fennikin, Riolu, Fletchinder, Farfetch'd, and Litleo. Since there was time to spare he rented a room at the center, thinking he'd feed everyone and decide (if any) what seals his new pokemon would have.

He rummaged around in the seal case and found several small square objects. He scanned them with Kimii and found out that they were data chips. Jace pulled out the voice recorder the professor had given him and found the file on poke ball seals. After listening to it he discovered that Tyler had designed these chips to allow for more variety while using seals. One could make two seals go off at once or have seals go off in a sequence, one after another. There was even an option to customize the sequences which Tyler called 'special sequence.'

The first thing he did was go through the seals and figure out what he wanted for the pokemon he would use during the gym battle. Sylveon and Scorch were covered already from what he'd chosen earlier. Rocky got some new seals while Riolu, Farfetch'd, and Litleo got their first seals. All of them had chips put into their poke balls to allow for either together seals, sequence seals, or special seals.

Sylveon was a sequence, with a blue flame appearing followed shortly after by light blue mist. Scorch's was a large blue flame first with a red flame (of the same size) after. Rocky was given new seals due to her evolution into Fletchinder, a fire and flying type. Her's was a sequence with a small red flame starting, a larger red flame after that, and large yellow stars surrounding the area last. Trystian's was a bunch of spheres exploding followed by light blue mist. Sammy, the Farfetch'd had a sequence with black smoke above followed by white smoke below and ending with a question mark. Assault (Litleo) had a special sequence.

His involved a regular sequence first. The fang seal would start it off and the lava seal came right after. Then the special sequence began. During it the word fire spelled out with an exclamation point at the end for added emphasis. Each letter (and the symbol) would show up and hang in the air for a few seconts then fade away. Jace was proud of himself for making that one happen since it had seemed so complicated when he listened to the file's explanation of the advanced displays.

By the time he was done setting all that up two hours had gone by. He put everything away and picked up his pack, slinging it over his shoulders. Scorch and Sylveon climbed to their usual places as Jace left his room. His poke-etch rang as he was starting toward the pokemart.

"Hello?"

"Jace."

Not you again ... It was Kit.

"Yeah,"

"Is this a bad time? You sound a bit distracted."

"Yeah I'm a little busy at the moment. Do you have something concrete or just a theory?"

A sigh and a startled laugh. "Whoa I thought I was talking to the old Jace there for a sec. If you're busy what I have can wait."

A soft growl under his breath. Will you just get to the point already!

"Yeah. ok." Hope he leaves me alone for a while ...

He grabbed his head as waves of pain shot through it. He breathed heavily and wasn't sure if the other boy said anything or not by the time he came back to himself.

"Jace! Are you alright?"

"Not so loud, just a headache." Probably from you ...

"Ok I'll call you another time. How about tomorrow?"

"Sure that's fine."

"Bye Jace." He didn't reply, just pressed the 'end' button to hang up.

(That was irratating.)

* (You're telling me. You don't havta talk to the guy.) *

(So what now 'master?')

* (Buy supplies, keep a look-out for Alyx.) *

(I'm on it boss.)

Jace remembered what items the pokemart sold from before. He bought several Potions (since Super potions weren't sold in this town for some reason) 1 Guard Spec (to protect his pokemon from stat reduction during the battle) and 2 X Accuracy's, which would help make attacks land easier. He stopped at a bench inside the pokemon center and taught some tm's to his team. Sylveon learned toxic, Rocky Riolu and Farfetch'd learned swords dance, with Litleo learning will-o-wisp. Jace was glad he'd gotten the tm's since not all of the moves they'd been learning very useful. His poke etch rang again as he was putting the last of the supplies away.

"Yeah?"

"Hey Jace. Just finished training. Sorry I'm late." Thank god ... I would have screamed if it was Kit.

"So ... where do you wanna meet?"

"How about outside the gym. I'll be there in a couple minutes. Need to heal up first."

"Sounds good, see you there."

— —- — —- —

Jace waited and waited. Finally he stepped up to a girl in front of the gym and battled her, gaining a pair of roller skates for his trouble along with some money. Alyx ran up to him as he was examining the skates.

"Those look pretty cool. Where'd you get 'em?" he asked.

Jace shrugged "The girl in front of the gym's doors. You have to battle her."

"Go in without me, I'll catch up with you near the gym leader. Good luck Jace."

The other boy put an arm around his shoulder before squeezing his arm lightly. Jace walked through the doors into the gym.

It took a while to figure things out inside. Even with Sylveon's help with navigation it wasn't easy going. There were spider webs on the floor and he could only step on certain ones otherwise he'd get stuck. Finally he was able to defeat every trainer in the building save the leader.

Alyx came up behind him as he battled the last one.

"Can you wait for me to take this last one on first? You're going back to heal aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"So?"

"I can wait."

"Great! Won't take too long promise."

Alyx kept to his word and they were in and out of the pokemon center ten minutes later. They walked back to the gym and Jace swore the other boy kkept moving closer and closer. Finally he was fed up with it and stopped, causing the other teen to run into him.

"What's up with you?!"

"Huh?"

(Oh here we go ...)

* (Not a good time.) *

(So when is? You're going to make out with him anyway.)

* (Shut up.)

"Why do you keep walking closer? What's going on?"

"You're ... you're really not that dense are you?"

"I'm not used to any of this! I don't even know how I feel about you." Did I really say that out loud? Before he could continue he was pushed up against a hard surface with a soft pair of lips pressing against his.

Instinctively he pushed against the other boy's chest, but his wrists were grabbed and held above his head. At that point he was seriously contemplating having Sylveon or Scorch knock the guy out, even though pokemon weren't supposed to harm humans. Before he could come up with a plan for that Black bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, and that's when Jace started getting into what was happening to him.

He didn't understand it, why was pain making him feel so good? He felt his pants tighten and kissed back hungrily, licking at the few drops of blood that had risen to the surface at the taller boy's bite. The grip on his wrists tightened and he started to feel a little faint. Thankfully Black took that moment to pull back from the kiss.

"Whoa,"

He chuckled nervously "Yeah,"

"Sorry if I ..."

"You were ... I'm just ... not sure what to think." he responded honestly. How do you tell someone you barely know that you didn't even like kissing until they bit you? Brought pain into the mix? Does that make me a freak?

"Jace ... you ok?"

"Yeah, just really confused."

A breath "Look, can we talk about this later when we both feel a little more clearheaded? I can see you're nervous and don't wanna push things too early."

He nodded "Sure," Even though I wanna talk about this now. What the hell happened?

Alyx brushed some hair out of Jace's face, chuckling "You did pretty well for a first kiss though."

How would you know something like that? I don't even ... never mind.

"Uhhh ..."

"Right, sorry. Let's get to the gym so we can both take down those bugs."

"Ok."

Going through the gym with Alyx was much faster than the first time he'd tried it.

(You do realize he might have taken you right there if he hadn't seen how uncomfortable you were right?)

* (What?) *

(You know ... fuck. He might have fucked you.)

* (Can we talk about this later? I'm so confused about the whole thing.) *

(Sure. By the way you got 1880 poke dollars from all the battles in here. Good luck boss. If you're lucky maybe she'll double battle you guys.)

* (What?) *

(Tell you later.)

The referee explained all the rules and they got started. Jace would go first and then Alyx would get his turn.

"Go! Surskit." The gym leader cried as Jace heard a strange sound.

* (What the hell is that?) *

(It's a Surskit.)

* (I figured that out already. What the fuck is a Surskit?) *

(Ask the machine since it seems to know everything.)

Jace went to touch the talk button on his poke-etch but the leader stopped him. He thought her name was Viola or something ...

"Please refrain from using electronics in here while battling unless it's an emergency." He shrugged and dropped his arm, thinking of who he'd send out first.

"Go Rocky!"

"What's a Rocky?" the woman across from him asked.

"My Fletchinder." he said woodenly, smiling only slightly as he heard her battle cry. He was unable to find out anything about his opponent's pokemon, this was not going to go well.

—- — —- — —-

Rocky landed on the ground hard as she came out of her ball. She hissed indignantly and looked at her trainer. Something was seriously wrong. She didn't know what it was, but she could feel the unease rolling off him in waves. I'll do my best for you master. That's all I can do right? She glared at the female human for good measure before uttering a loud battle cry.

"Use quick attack!" the woman nearly shouted, making Rocky wince. Why are humans so loud?!

"Use your quick attack to dodge." Thanks for the advice. She zoomed around the gym a few times before coming close enough to land a hit on the bug type.

And got hit with a jet of bubbbles. What the hell! For several seconds she just hovered there, not knowing what to do. The bubbbles didn't really hurt, tickled more than anything, but she was sure she was just high on battling. There was definitely something off about them.

"Use ember." Fire fire fire!

She let lose the flames toward the bug but they didn't really do anything. Huh?

"Use swords dance and then quick attack." Sure thing boss ... What the hell is going on?

— —- — —- —

* (What's happening? She should be wiping the floor with that bug by now.) *

(Not all bugs are just bug types. I'm not familiar with this one though.)

* (That's no help.) *

(Sorry boss.)

—- — —- — —-

She squawked in irratation as more bubbles hit her. What's with these things? They don't hurt but they are making me feel dizzy ...

"USE bubble one more time." She couldn't even move well enough to use agility when her trainer ordered her to. The water hit her and she fell to the ground. She did not get up.

— —- — —- —

"That was unexpected. All my trainers said you were good. They must have lied to me." the leader mocked. Alyx tried to wrap an arm around Jace's shoulders, but he shook it off.

"I'll be fine." he murmured just loud enough for the other boy to hear.

"So, you gonna throw out another pokemon or are you too scared?" V-something said.

He smirked "You're looking at my next pokemon."

"Huh?"

He gently ran a finger along one of the tendrils clinging to his arm and chuckled.

"Sylveon get down there."

(Alright you're the boss. I really do wanna get at that stupid looking thing. Is it a deformed spider?)

* (I don't know.) *

"You'll never get past Surskit, she's both bug and water type." the woman said.

(So that's it ... It's time for me to show this lady what happens when people mess with my friends and trainer!)

* (Just don't overdo it.) *

(Don't worry about me. I'll have that thing out cold in no time.)

—- — —- — —-

What the fuck is this thing supposed to be? It looks like a spider with four legs and a creepily cute face. And what's with the yellow thing on its head? It smells funny too ...

"Looks like you're going to lose already. Your little bunny-thing can't even concentrate. Must be Surskit's scent."

What the hell are you babbling about lady?

"Use sweet scent!" Uhm what? There was a sweet smell coming from the pokemon and he had to blink to make himself focus. He stepped back and looked around. What?

"Use fairy wind." The command from his trainer broke him out of whatever strange reality he'd been in. What was that? He quickly readied the attack, flinging sand into the bug's face as it charged. When it was finally ready he let the pink stream of dust lose. It hit the bug, but didn't do as much damage as he thought it should.

"Use toxic."

Why? It smells sooo good ...

"Sylveon!" He jerked slightly, looking over at his trainer and then nodded. I have to get back into this before we lose the battle. Whatever this stuff is I'm so over it!

He formed the stars for swift and hurled them at the bug. Then he ran toward it, pretending to be drunk off the smell in the process, and jabbed it with a tendril. Toxens seeped into the odd looking creature and he smirked. Take that you ... bitch!

"Fairy wind,"

"Bubble!" He dodged as quickly as he could, but one bubble hit him.

"Quick attack." Glad to do something useful for once boss ... He ran as fast as he could, getting distracted by the sickly sweet smell that came off the other pokemon. Ignore it ignore it ignore it!

He landed a good hit on the thing, but it was still standing. Damnit!

"Swift and then fairy wind," What you really mean is prep both attacks and use swift first. Good idea. He charged up the pink dust, letting stars hit the bug in the meantime. He'd moved across the room and was now near his trainer, which seemed to help him concentrate. When the dust was ready he let it fly, hitting the spider-thing hard in the face. Yes!

— —- — —- —

Jace smiled as he heard a pained cry (not from Sylveon thank god) and then a loud thud. The fairy type came over and nuzzled his legs.

"Ok, so you beat my Surskit. That doesn't mean you'll beat my Vivillon!" Sure lady, try me.

"Go ahead, we'll see who wins." he said coolly, kneeling down to run a hand along one of Sylveon's tendrils.

* (You up for more fighting?) *

(Nah. That smell is still around and it's making it hard to think. It's a wonder I won at all.)

* (Ok ... someone else then. Maybe Assault can ignore it.) *

(He's definitely angry enough.)

—- — —- — —-

Assault blinked lazily at the letters that were fading from the seals he'd asked for. Nice effect ... He looked around and growled angrily. I'm fighting a butterfly! Seriously a fucking butterfly! Why do these things always happen to me!? Is it because I'm one of the 'rare' males of my species?

He glared at the overly colorful thing across from him and paced in front of his trainer. Before he could attack the thing it was flying toward him. He wasn't sure what happened in the next few seconds, but he knew he felt really dizzy.

"Get up!" He glanced at his human with hazy vision and shook his head. I can't do it ... I don't even wanna move ...

"Poison powder! It's being slow, might as well speed things up." the female human said. He didn't even move as the dust settled around him. He shivered at the horrible feeling of two 'wrongs' inside him, but couldn't do anything about it.

— —- — —- —

* (What's wrong with him?) *

(I don't know for sure, but I think the butterfly used infestation on him.)

* (What's that?) *

(It's a move that's supposed to be able to hurt you until you faint.)

* (Oh that's just great ...) *

He held out Assault's poke ball.

"Return."

Nothing happened.

"You can't switch out now. That's how infestation works. You keep getting hurt until you're knocked out." the woman giggled gleefully. God she is so creepy.

(What you gonna do 'master"')

* (I don't know.) *

—- — —- — —-

It was getting harder and harder to stand up as the poison and the unknown substance attacked him from the inside. Finally he managed to look up and use leer on the bug. That should help a little ...

— —- — —- —

(I have an idea.)

* (Yeah?) *

(You bought all those items for a reason right?)

* (Yeah ...) *

(Wasn't one of them for increasing the accuracy of moves?)

* (Yes ... but what will that do now? He isn't even moving.) *

(Just trust me. You taught him will-o-wisp right?)

* (Uh-huh) *

(Use it and the item.)

—- — —- — —-

He felt a tingling sensation and forced his left eye to look at his human. Everything hurqs so much ...

"I know you can't do much right now and I'm not asking you to. Just do one thing for me."

Yeah ... what is it?

The human must have figured out something because he continued.

"Use will-o-wisp." Ok ...

"Hahaha! you'll never get that attack to land." Be quiet lady ... He opened his mouth, his entire body screaming in protest, and let out a small harmless-looking blue flame. He breathed on it. It started moving, making its way toward the butterfly. This just might work. I hope so for your sake master ...

— —- — —- —

A loud thunk could be heard as Litleo fell to the floor unconscious.

"Take a nice long rest. You did well." Jace said as he withdrew his pokemon.

"Really? That last attack didn't even ... agghh!"

(The will-o-wisp just hit that bug! Isn't it great?!)

* (I would feel better if Assault hadn't knocked himself out doing it.) *

(Yeah, but what can you do against infestation anyway?)

* (I'll figure out something.) *

"Scorch you're up!"

—- — —- — —-

He blinked up at brother. Why am I fighting a pretty-fly?

"Use ember. Try and keep away from Vivillon as much as possible. Do not let it touch you." Ok brother you know best ...

He readied the fire and breathed it toward the bug ... and somehow missed. Grrr! What happened?

"Use heat wave." Sounds fun brother ... He let that lose too, but couldn't hit the bug. It's so pretty ... why should I attack it?

— —- — —- —

(What's he doing out there? He hasn't hit it once.) *

(I think he's dealing with the 'pretty complex.')

* (The what?) *

(Y'know, when something is so pretty you don't want to destroy it. He readies the attacks, fires them even, but can't aim properly.)

* (So what do I do?) *

(You're the trainer not me. Think about what moves he knows. That should help.)

—- — —- — —-

He felt tingly and then smiled over at his trainer. I feel just a little stronger now. Thanks brother. The same sensation only slightly different followed. What was that? If it helps who cares?

"Hypnosis."

"Oh no oh no oh no! The kid and his baby fox are trying to put us to sleep! What do we do Vivillon?" the female human said. I don't care what you think lady ... Leave brother alone!

He had to get really close to make eye contact with the bug, but he finally managed it. He grinned manically as he saw it start to work. But then something churned in his guts and he begun to feel weak and achy. He looked down to see that there was a hole in his stomach. What the?

— —- — —- —

(Not him too.)

* (What?) *

(That bastard infestation got into Scorch too.)

* (Is it asleep at least?) *

(Looks like it's falling asleep yeah.)

* (I wish I could return him now. He shouldn't have to go through this.) *

(He's a part of your team. He'd be insulted if you didn't let him fight.)

* (I know, but that doesn't make me feel any better.) *

It didn't take too long for the bug to fall asleep and for Scorch to fall over - completely knocked out.

"I'm not giving you the badge until you make Vivillon faint. It's just asleep." Have it your way woman ...

"Alright, well I have something that should make things a little harder for you." I just hope the rumors about steel types being immune to poison are true ...

—- — —- — —-

Trystian took in his surroundings with apparent disinterest. That was how he'd been doing things for a while now. It tended to throw his opponents off-guard, which was the idea. Why pretend to be intimidated?

He smirked and looked over at his trainer.

"Use swords dance." He'd felt a little silly when he was told about this move, but knew it would be useful after having tried it out. He felt himself getting stronger and shot a look at the sleeping butterfly. Why hasn't the match finished yet? It can't even fight anymore.

"For some reason she won't stop the battle because her pokemon's asleep. Let's do something about that. Force palm, double." I like the way you think sensei. He wasn't sure when he'd started thinking of the boy as his teacher, but it fit somehow.

He charged up the attacks and ran over to the bug, delivering two punches. He growled softly in satisfaction as electricity flowed through its body and it finally opened its eyes.

"Stay away from it. Don't let it touch you." He nodded, stepping back. He studied the creature and grinned.

He started running, his shape blurring so much it would be hard to see. He kept this up for a while, landing small hits on the bug, but they would add up. Finally it tackled him and he used counter, doing massive damage. Won't be long now ...

"Finish it with force palm." He used quick attack to stay out of its range for a few minutes, it did seem to be getting tired. When ready he struck, both fists hitting the creature squarely in the middle area. If that doesn't take it down I don't know what will.

— —- — —- —

"Noooo!"

He sighed, walking over to where Riolu was still standing. He knelt down and gathered the dog-pokemon into his arms and hugged him.

"You did so well."

(Thanks sensei.) Sylveon translated.

"Glad I found you when I did ... you're a great addition to the team and great friend."

(You're going to make me blush sensei ...) Translated Sylveon.

"Sorry."

The woman reluctantly gave him the badge.

"I don't think you deserve this, but here!" she cried as she put it in his hand. He curled his fingers around the piece of metal and slid it into a pocket of his jeans. He'd put it somewhere safer later.

"What's wrong with you? My team fought the best they could."

"It wasn't good enough! You're not Cody!" Cody?

(Who's that?)

* (You think I know?) *

"Are you listening to me!?" the woman practically wailed. He hadn't been obviously.

"Well since you got the badge I have to give you this too." she thrust a small case into his palm. He opened it and found a tm inside.

"That's tm 83. Y'know, infestation that move you loved so much when I used it on your pokemon."

He nodded stonily and took off his pack to put the tm away.

(I can take care of that.)

* (You feeling up to it?) *

(I feel well enough. Just let go of the bag, I'll catch it.)

* (Ok thanks.) *

"What the hell are you doing?"

He growled under his breath and turned to the girl, cuddling Trystian close. The dog nuzzled into his arms before falling asleep.

"Why should I tell you? I would leave right now if my friend here didn't need to talk to you." He had absolutely no respect for this rude and insensitive woman.

Black -

"So, are you his boyfriend?" He looked at the girl and shook his head. What's your problem missy?

"Not exactly. Doesn't matter ... not your business."

"Why you! I should have you thrown out right now."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Jace said from beside him. He smiled over at the boy even though he knew he wouldn't see it.

"And why the hell not?"

"He's a trainer too. I thought I heard somewhere that gym leaders are required to take all challenges."

And that's why I find you so irresistible Jace ...

"Well ... yeah,"

"So ... how about it?" he asked, staring her down. Does the idea of me being gay or bi or whatever you think I am bother you so much?

"Ok fine. Give me ten minutes to heal my pokemon. We'll use the other room." And with that the girl walked out.

"I am so glad she's gone." was the first thing he said when she left.

"Me too." Jace said, still holding onto his Riolu. That's the perfect pokemon for him. So loyal ... so trusting ...

"Alyx?"

"Yeah Jace?"

"Was it me or did she seem ..." he bit his lip

"... odd."

"I wouldn't use odd here, it's too generous. The words you want are ... Was it just me or was she really a bitch?"

A laugh and slight smile.

"Yeah that works."

"Yes, she was a bitch and still is. I almost don't want to battle her anymore. You're really good and look how she treated you."

"You trained too though."

"Yeah, but not as much as you."

"i'm sure you'll do fine."

He smiled. "You really think so?"

"Wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it."

"True ... so ... uhhh ... there anything you wanna do after this?"

"Maybe. I caught some pokemon I might wanna trade with you."

He blinked, not having expected that.

"Ok ... maybe we should wait on that though. I think there are more areas with grass to find pokemon close by."

"We'll see ..." he watched the boy for a moment, noticing how he smiled and blushed darkly.

What's got him so hot under the collar?


	6. Chapter 6

Key:

(…) = Sylveon mind speech

* (…) * = jace mind speech

5\. Continuing On

Black —

Finally the girl came back and beckoned them all into another room.

"We battle here."

"Fine."

"I'll start. Go Surskit!"

Thankfully he'd watched Jace's battle carefully and knew of a few things that could give him an advantage. Hopefully I do as well as you did Jace. Only losing three pokemon to that infestation attack is pretty good from where I stand. And Sylveon didn't even fight the thing ...

"You're up Tom!" he let the ball fly and smiled slightly as his Butterfree emerged, trilling a happy cry.

"Use Confusion."

"Huh ... what?" the woman asked.

"You heard me." He glared at Viola and watched his pokemon work.

He smirked as the attack connected. The water-bug flinched and then appeared slightly confused.

"Oh no! It's not going to ..." she was too late. The Surskit ran toward a wall and started bashing its head against it.

"Stop it you stupid shithead!" He winced, even he'd never be that harsh on his pokemon. He glanced over at Jace and saw that the boy had found a wall to lean against and was still holding the sleeping Riolu. Every now and then a soft growly snore could be heard.

"Use tackle." Tom flew toward the confused bug and rammed into it. Amazingly this broke the spider-like pokemon out of its confusion.

"Use Bubble!"

"Dodge and use confusion again." Tom complied, skimming over the floating bubbles gracefully and shooting his wave of weak psychic energy straight into the other bug's eyes. It screeched, but stayed standing.

"Ok that's it! Use sweet scent!" Not that attack. I saw what it did to Sylveon and would rather not see that again ...

Tom swerved in the air and almost crashed, but managed to keep himself afloat.

"You've done well buddy come on back." A red light signaled Tom's departure.

"Show 'em who's boss Sparky!" The Pikachu looked around, his gaze a searching one as he smirked at the bug. He must know it's part water type. This will be so much fun.

"Quick attack."

"Use bubble!"

"Dodge those and use Thundershock."

"Huh? You're not attacking with quick attack?" He just shrugged, not caring what she thought.

Like they'd practiced Sparky's quick attack was just a front. He used it to confuse and maneuver the target into the perfect position for his attack. In this case that was a pond in the middle of the room. Who in their right mind puts a pond inside like this? He watched with glee as the Surskit took the bait, even going into the water, which made things easier for them.

"Now." With that, Sparky let out a cry of "pika!" and used quick attack to get close to the water. He jumped, touching just one toe in the liquid before unleashing a thundershock. Before he could be attacked himself he was out of the way, safe on the other side of the pond. Now all they had to do was wait.

The pool filled with electricity which was conducted by the water. An attack that might have done minimal damage under other circumstances became much stronger. You learned that one well ... there's more where that came from. Sparky winked at him and used quick attack to start running around the room. He was also scouting out other key locations for ambushes or terrain advantages. He'd been lucky to find a Pikachu who was so versed in tracking and living out in the "wilds." It gave both pokemon and trainer an edge. The pokemon knew the best ways to ambush and attack while the trainer could strategize from the side lines with a different angle on the situation.

He waited ... and waited. It felt like forever. He'd taught Sparky exactly how much electricity a small pond (or any body of water really) needed to conduct and he was sure his friend had done things right. Finally (after what felt like an eternity) the Surskit emerged from the water. The gym leader had probably been shouting or cursing the whole time, but Alyx hadn't been paying her any mind. He really did not care to know her name, but unfortunately for him he was good at remembering stuff like that.

The bug was shaking and having trouble standing. Sparky snickered, something which got Alyx to smirk.

"What's so funny?!"

He gave her a droll look. "Seriously you can't see it? Your Surskit's done."

"Whaaaat!"

True to form, the water type fell over unconscious seconds later.

"Goddamnit! You cheated!"

He blinked and sighed, running a hand through his dark hair.

"No you're just an idiot when it comes to most things ..." he murmured, sparing a little time to check up on Jace. He was leaning against the same wall, now stroking his fingers through his Riolu's soft fur. I am so fucked for love ...

"Alright fine. It's time for you to see why I am a gym leader. Go Vivillon!" And that makes everything so much better. A fuckin' butterfly? At least mine's useful and doesn't just stick people with little needles to slowly knock them out. I bet yours can't do anything other than poison or infest.

"Thunder wave." He smirked as Sparky started his quick attack-dodge maneuver and stopped a good distance from the butterfly. He let out the blue electrical charges and they hit their target. He knew paralysis wasn't always the best, but it should slow the thing down at least.

"Poison powder!"

"Dodge." Sparky had been looking at something Black couldn't see and unfortunately didn't hear the command. This left him open for the poison type attack. He shakily raised his eyes to his trainer's.

"Sorry buddy, you need to get moving now if you want to stay in this fight." The Pikachu nodded and used thundershock. It didn't do all that much. Need something stronger ... what's stronger ... that he has?

Before he could come up with anything the Pikachu froze in its tracks, a look of horror on its face. As his trainer turned to see what was wrong something pricked the electric type. Not that ... anything but that ... Fuckin' infestation ...

He watched helplessly as his friend tried to move. Even the smallest movement seemed to be extremely painful. I wish I could do something ... but I have no items for this. I don't even think I could fix this with one ...

Minutes later Sparky lay on the ground, having been knocked out by infestation. I will make sure you're taken care of friend.

"Return Sparky. Go Tom!" The Butterfree floated in the air and blinked.

"Come on Tom let's see what we can do." He scanned the room and saw that the Vivillon wasn't moving. That's not good ...

"Make sure it doesn't touch you. Use poison powder."

The dust fell upon the other bug type and it began to shake slightly. If anything that should help.

"Gust." The wind was propelled toward the opposing pokemon, but it managed to dodge. He hissed in frustration and caught Tom looking at him.

"Confusion."

The psychic energy hit the other bug. Only problem was Tom was floating there ... What are you doing?! By the time he realized what was happening it was too late.

A thud announced his current pokemon losing the battle against the ever-present infestation.

"Return Tom. Splash you're up." The starter croaked cheerily.

"Water gun." The liquid shot toward the bug which managed to evade the attack. Damn, I forgot that Froakie is one of my slowest pokemon.

"Uh-huh and you thought you could win. Finish that slow-ass frog with infestation."

It didn't take long for Splash to join the others in defeat. I don't have many left and they won't last long ... maybe Headache?

"Return Splash. Go Headache!"

A new addition, Headache was a Psyduck. The Psyduck stood there stupidly, but appeared somewhat attentive at least. Good, training with Sparky did help you.

"Headache, that's for sure. You're giving me one! Infes-"

"Not this time. Disable." The duck's attack effectively stopped the infernal destruction for the time being. Thank Arceus. Now I can really battle.

"Confusion." The duck did as ordered, sending the attack straight for the bug's middle.

The damage wasn't what he would have liked, but it was enough to put a dent in the bug's hp.

"Water gun." As the water hit the bug it moved slightly. It was obvious the butterfly was so stunned by the fact it couldn't use what was probably the leader's favorite attack. That would benefit Headache greatly.

"Do something damnit!" Viola shouted, but it was no use.

"Confusion one more time." That last attack finished the battle, which he was very grateful for. Maybe now he could travel with Jace.

When he checked on Jace again he saw that the boy was asleep. He needs it. That battle took a lot out of him. Mine was bad, but I haven't had as much time to bond with my pokemon as he has. Rest well Jace ...

Viola brought him out of his thoughts.

"Hellooo! Were you even listening to me?!" And this is the type of person they turn into a gym leader? I would hate to see the league in that case ...

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"Never mind. If you are going to spend more time staring at that boy than me then why are you here?!"

He was surprised to see the beginning of tears in her eyes. Since realizing just how much girls drove him up the walls he'd forgotten how to interact with them. He had no idea how to comfort one and in this case he did not even want to try.

"So?" he asked, hoping it would bring her out of whatever pity-party she'd created for herself. He may not remember how to interact with girls, but it would take something real drastic to make him forget how they acted and what they tended to do.

She wiped her eyes and looked over at the sleeping Jace.

"Do you really think he's asleep?"

"Yeah. The battle took a lot out of him." He definitely didn't want to tell this girl anything more than she needed to know. So explaining why he was so close to his pokemon was out of the question.

"Well ... here."

She held out the Bug badge and a case containing the same tm she'd given to the other teen earlier. He gently pried them from her fingers and stashed them in his pack. He would put them away properly later. Alyx made his way over to Jace and shook him lightly. The other boy mumbled in his sleep but did not wake up.

After several minutes of fruitless effort he got an idea. Don't know if he'll thank me for this but it's worth a try right? He melded his mouth with the other teen's, hoping this would actually work. After a few seconds Jace responded, kissing him back hungrily. Reluctantly Alyx pulled away and put a hand on the other boy's shoulder. There was a whine in response from the shorter teen, but he was pretty sure Jace wasn't aware he'd made the noise.

"C'mon, it's time to go."

"Your battle?"

"All over."

"I missed the whole thing ... damn. I wanted to watch."

"Uh-huh. Don't you mean listen ... Never mind. I bet Viola here wants to lock up for the day."

"Who?"

Jace —

He and Alyx went back to the pokemon center after leaving the gym.

"So what you gonna do the rest of the night?" the other boy asked.

A shrug "Don't have anything planned."

"I'm hungry. Wanna eat somewhere?"

"Not really. Think I'll turn in for the night once I get the pokemon healed."

"Can we meet up tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"See you out here for breakfast?"

"Yes, Alyx."

"What's wrong?"

"Just tired ..."

He woke to the sound of a poke ball breaking open. What now?

Something nudged his side and he groaned, shoving at whatever it was roughly. An angry growl met his ears.

Huh?

(You might wanna get up. Trystian's pissed.)

* (What's got him all riled up?) *

(You just pushed him off the bed. Much harder than necessary may I add.)

* (He wasn't here when I went to bed ...) *

(No he wasn't because he was in his poke ball. That was him getting out of it you heard before you pushed him.)

* (Ugh ... I hate mornings.) *

(You weren't just pushed ... boss.)

He noticed how the title was almost reluctant to come and scowled.

* (What's up with you?) *

(Just tired of feeling his anger and irritation.)

* (You can feel that?) *

(Yeah I feel the emotions of just about everyone you're close to.)

—- —- —-

After getting dressed he met the other boy in the lobby of the pokemon center. It wasn't easy to soothe his Riolu, but he finally managed - promising to get him a Blackbelt the first chance he got.

"You look tired already. Everything ok?" asked Black.

"Yeah just had an argument with one of my pokemon. He apparently doesn't like my morning attitude."

A chuckle. "What did you do?"

"Just drop it. Can we get some food now?"

"Sure ... Jace." And of course hearing his name said like that got his heart racing.

Why did you havta do that now? I don't think I can resist anymore ...

To prove the point his jeans got a little tighter.

Great ...

"Jace?"

"Yeah,"

"Let's go." The taller teen grabbed his hand and started leading him away.

I hope you know where you're going.

After eating a hardy meal he found himself in front of the pokemart. He bought another X Accuracy (to replace the one he'd used during the gym battle) 8 poke balls and an X Speed. He moved out of the way to put the supplies into his pack. Black had gone off somewhere, probably to pack up his things from his room. Jace had done that already with his own belongings.

"You got everything you need here?"

He almost jumped at the voice of the other boy but managed not to just barely.

"Yes,"

"Good. Route 4 awaits!"

"Huh?"

"The next area Jace ..."

—- —- —-

They hadn't gotten too far when Alyx grabbed his arm.

He stopped and blinked. "What?"

"There's a woman staring at us."

"So?"

"Let's see what she wants."

He sighed "Fine. Can you let go of me?"

"Yeah sorry."

It turned out the lady had items for them.

"I heard from my sister that you both earned these." She put a box into Jace's hands. With the snort from Alyx he was pretty sure the boy had gotten one too.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I am Viola's sister Alexa. You two did beat her yesterday right?"

That's the bitch's name right?

He decided to ask just to make sure.

* (Viola was the gym leader's name right?) *

(Yeah. You don't remember?)

* (I was trying not to rip her head off and worried about all of you. When would there have been time to remember her name?) *

(Right. That battle was brutal ...)

* (Yes or no?)

* (Yes. Get back to your boy before they both think you're crazy.)

* (What if I am?) *

(What?)

* (Crazy. What if I am crazy?) *

(Damnit Jacen this is no time for philosophy!)

* (What?) *

(Never mind ...)

A tap on the shoulder brought him back to the real world.

"What?!"

"Sorry. You looked really out of it ..."

"I'm fine. What is in this box again?"

"She says it's called an exp share."

"Uhh ..."

"Let me explain," the woman said imperiously.

(Oh great ... a girl who likes to talk ...)

* (Not now. This might actually be important.) *

"... so if you turn the exp share on all of your pokemon will get experience when you battle. This goes for trainers and wild pokemon."

He nodded. "And if I want it off?"

"Then you just flip the switch to turn it off. You can also give it to a pokemon, but that's not ..." And here he tuned her out.

Why do people havta talk so much? She's giving me a headache!

"... if you do this only one pokemon will get experience and it will be 50 percent more than usual."

Are you done yet?!

"Is that it?"

"Yeah," she said uncertainly.

"Sorry about my friend, he's not a morning person." Black said.

Thank you for dealing with her ...

Thankfully she left after that. The path was clear now to Route 4. Jace was looking forward to some training. Maybe he'd get new additions to the team too. He'd decided to bring Sylveon, Fennikin, Riolu, Burmy, and Azurill.

"HEY Jace ..."

"Yeah?"

"Can we travel together from now on?" Alyx's tone was so hopeful it almost made him sick.

I'm not sure I can do that. You'll probably think I'm a freak or something ... I like my space anyway ...

After a few minutes the other teen sighed and Jace heard a sharp smack.

Did he just hit himself?

"That was so fuckin' stupid Black ... you know he won't say yes ..."

Is he talking to me?

(He's feeling ridiculous for asking since you're taking so long to answer.)

* (Oh I should say something then huh ...) *

(Yeah,)

"Alyx ..."

When the boy made a soft noise in confirmation he continued. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

(Way to make him feel better boss.)

* (Shut up!) *

"What do you mean?"

He's gonna hate me for this I just know it ...

"I need space Black."

There was silence for a long time. "But ... I can give you that."

"No you can't. Not with us staying in the same room."

"What's wrong? I thought we were getting along well."

"We are ... it's just ..." he bit his lip

"You really don't like me enough to ..."

"To what?"

"To stay with me." he finished lamely.

And yeah you sound so together right now genius ...

"I don't understand. Why's it so hard to let someone get close to you? It's not like I've tried to force you into bed or anything ..."

Is that what this is about?

"That's not it. There's just ..."

"Just what! Would you rather I was a girl then?"

"No. Hell no. I wouldn't know how to talk to you ..."

"Then what is it Jace?"

Can I really tell him? Will he think I'm insane and just leave?

"There's something about me that isn't normal." he went with eventually.

"What? I've spent enough time around you to know that. That's why I like you in the first place."

Are you sure about that? Why do I even care anyway? The professor said only some people would find it odd ... might as well try and tell him ...

"There's something you need to know ... and before you say 'I don't care' or 'it doesn't bother me' just listen ok."

An intake of breath. "Ok."

So that's how the Froakie trainer learned about his and Sylveon's 'bond'.

"So you're telling me that if he wanted to he could talk to you right now ... inside your head?"

At least that's not a full-out 'you're crazy Jace get away from me'.

"Yeah,"

"That's ... wow. I didn't think that could happen outside of those psychic trainers you always hear about. They really sound nuts though."

And there it is ...

"Not that you are though. Is that why you zone out a lot?"

He nodded. "That's right."

An arm was around him before he could do anything else. He was pulled close to the other boy and a kiss was placed on his neck.

"That wasn't so bad was it? I mean it sounds out there but I've watched it happen ... right?"

"You remember when that lady was talking on and on about the exp share?"

"Alexa."

"What?"

"Her name."

"Right ... He was talking to me then and a little after you asked me to join you several minutes ago."

"Oh,"

He thought for a few minutes, the arm still around him. Oddly it didn't bother him like he'd thought it might.

"How about this ... we split up to train and catch pokemon here and then meet up at the end of the route?"

"And after that?"

"We'll see what happens after that. I can't promise anything."

"Ok,"

He accepted really quick ...

(He's probably just happy you didn't dump him.)

* (What's that supposed to mean?) *

(Oh my god ... do I have to explain everything ...)

—- —- —-

The first wild pokemon almost made him trip.

(Stop!)

* (What is it?) *

(You're about to step on a pokemon.)

* (Uhhh ... this thing?) * he asked as he gently tapped something round and small with his foot.

(That would be it.)

* (What pokemon is it?) *

(Dunno. Never seen one of 'em before.)

He smacked himself in the face.

* (Yeah that's helpful.) *

(Isn't that what the 'dex' machine is for?)

* (The what?) *

(The uh ... uhm ... Oh that's right! You humans call it a pokedex. Sorry, 'dex' is what we pokemon usually call them.)

* (Oh right.) *

He took the pokedex out of his jeans pocket and flipped it open. Sylveon told him where to point so the unknown pokemon could be scanned.

"Budew the Bud pokemon. When it feels the sun's warm touch, it opens its bud to release pollen. It lives alongside clear pools."

That's useful ...

"Budew's attacks are absorb and growth."

That's good right?

"Budew is level 5."

It took a few minutes, but Jace managed to find out other attacks the small pokemon could learn. He found out it would be better to catch one at a lower level since it would learn poison sting at level 7 (after evolving into Roselia.)

(You know what's funny?)

* (Hmmm?) * Jace responded, still engrossed in the information on Roselia.

(Any other pokemon would have run away by now but this one's sleeping.)

* (I don't get it.) *

(You're taking so long to look things up that any other pokemon would have run away by now. We don't all wanna be captured y'know.)

He prodded the little bud a few times until it gave a squeaky-sounding cry and started jumping around.

"You take this one Moth." He threw Burmy's ball and the worm appeared. He'd discovered it became a moth once evolved, hence the name.

"Think you can knock it out?"

(He says he's got it.) Sylveon translated.

A few hard hits from tackle had the bud lying on the ground out cold. He'd been training both Sylveon and Burmy together since the bug didn't learn any useful attacks until level 10. Jace picked up Budew and scanned it again. This time he looked for details he hadn't before ... like gender for instance.

"You put up a good fight. Think I'll call you Thorns."

(Nice name. Can we get moving? Staying still like this is driving me crazy.)

* (Sure 'your majesty.') *

The next pokemon was a Ralts. The pokedex informed him that it was a psychic type.

I don't have one of those yet. This should be interesting.

"You wanna take this one Moth?"

(He says he's kinda tired. I think he's afraid of getting beat up.)

* (Ok then we'll go with Bubbles.) *

Bubbles was the Azurill he'd caught a while back. Due to the exp share it was level 9 now, a big improvement from the level 3 it was when he'd caught it. (the exp share was active at the moment)

—- — —- — —-

The polka dot pokemon blinked and looked around.

I'm fighting? Yay!

"Water gun."

Sounds great! Time to battle!

She bounced a few times in glee then shot a stream of water toward the psychic type. It teleported behind her and hit her with something she didn't see.

what ... was that?

"Don't let it rattle you. Bubble."

She smiled and shot the bubbles toward the Ralts. This time the attack hit, doing a fair amount of damage. The pokemon didn't even try to dodge, it seemed stunned by the fact that she was using bubbles to attack with.

They may seem silly, but they sure work!

"Quick use bubble again while it's stunned."

Glad to help!

The bubbles hit the horned pokemon. It became dazed and she grinned happily.

"Come on back Bubbles."

— —- — —- —

The poke ball he tossed had only a little trouble capturing Ralts. It shook a few times before the inevitable 'ding' announced success.

"Think I'll call you Jaden." he said as he picked it up and put it on his belt. For some reason the ball hadn't disappeared, which was odd since he was carrying six pokemon already.

(Where'd you come up with that?)

* (Huh?) *

(The name for the Ralts.)

* (Oh that. Dunno just fit I guess. Can you help me figure out something?) *

(Sure what is it?)

* (Why do I have seven pokemon right now?) *

(Uhh ... you do?)

* (Don't give me that. You were there when I chose who to take with me. There were five and Thorns makes six.) *

(Ahhh I know what you mean. You left my poke ball in your pack right?)

* (Yeah,) *

(That's why. The thing that controls how many pokemon you can have must be confused or something.)

* (Can that happen?) *

(Maybe ...)

Jace rummaged in his pack for the ball in question and had Kimii scan it.

"Empty," was all she said. He scanned it again with the same result.

* (What the fuck does 'empty' mean?) *

(With an item ... I think it means it can't scan it.)

* (Uhm ...) *

(It doesn't think it exists. That explains the seven issue.)

* (It does?) *

(Yeah. Trainers are only supposed to have six pokemon at a time.)

* (I know that already ...) *

(So if it thinks my poke ball isn't there then according to Kimii you have six.)

* (You just gave me a migraine ...) *

(Sorry boss,)

Jace had Ralts and Azurill train next, letting them both take the brunt of the experience. This meant that the exp share was turned off for a while. Bubbles evolved at level 14. Jaden got to level 16 before they ran into another pokemon Jace wanted to catch. He discovered (with some help from Kimii) that Jaden also knew Confuse Ray and Disable. This was odd since it could only learn those moves through breeding, something a human had to facilitate to get good results. This often times involved a female of the desired species being mated to another type or pokemon of the same type but different species. RALTS must have been abandoned on Route 4, a theory supported by the fact that he could analyze a battle field and almost always knew what attack to use before Jace himself did.

—- — —- — —-

Jaden blinked as he was released from the cramped little ball.

What am I fighting?

A large bug (taller than him anyway) was floating in the air not too far away.

Ok ... Target sighted. Bug type. Double team then confusion.

"Double team it's pretty fast." Even as his trainer gave the command he was already moving.

Once he was fast enough he charged up confusion.

"Confusion."

Way ahead of you ...

The attack hit the bug and nearly knocked it from the air. It moved just enough to take only most of the damage, not all.

I can work with that. Teleport.

"Teleport close and use confusion again." As the order came he was already disappearing.

He materialized just under the bug and shot it out of the sky with a well-placed confusion.

Success! Watch in case. Not looking away ...

"You're done Ralts."

— —- — —- —

He threw a poke ball at the Ledyba, which didn't put up a fight. He picked up the ball and it vanished.

Good that's what it's supposed to do. As useful as seven is it's odd ...

He scooped up Jaden and cradled him against his chest. The psychic type hummed in contentment and rubbed its small horn against his arm.

* (What's he feeling?) *

(That's kinda private ... ok I'll say this much. He really likes you a lot.)

* (Uhhh …) *

(You've never asked me to tell you something like that before ... only translations. Emotions are very private 'master.')

* (I can understand that.) *

The next half hour was spent training Jaden and Scorch separately. Since they were both high levels he gave the exp share to one of them at a time. Scorch evolved into Braixen at level 16 and Jaden evolved into Kirlia at level 20. After getting Scorch to level 22 (when he learned fire spin) it was time to work on Bubbles again. He leveled her until she learned aqua tail (at level 20.) Burmy evolved into Mothim as well due to more training.

The last pokemon he captured were a pair of Skitty. They were playing with each other and even seemed to like one another a lot.

(I think they're in love.)

* (What gives you that idea?) *

(It's the way they keep looking at each other. Just trust me on this.)

* (Ok, so male and female then?) *

(Yeah. It's not unheard of for two male pokemon to ... never mind ... They're perfect for you and Black.)

* (Why's that?) *

(Didn't you say you wanted to trade some pokemon with him?)

* (Yeah,) *

(Well that's that then. Besides it would be cruel to separate them.)

* (I'll take your word for it.) *

One of the kitten pokemon ran up to him and rubbed against his legs. Jaden growled softly and it whined in alarm.

(Only a kitty could make a whine seem like its scared.)

* (Uh what?) *

(They're so cute and all that anything they do will sound like they're either happy or scared ... well mostly.)

* (Still not getting it.) *

(Forget it.)

* (You got it.) *

He gently elbowed the Kirlia and kneeled down.

"Be nice." he whispered to the psychic type as he smiled reassuringly in the kitten's direction.

"I won't hurt you. C'mere."

A few minutes later he had an armful of enthusiastic Skitty in his arms. The 'dex' let him know this was the girl. He called her Oleander. As he started walking away the boy followed him. He placed two poke balls on the ground and both Skitty were sucked inside. Of course, the balls disappeared into his pc.

Guess Sylveon was right about you two ...

Kalyx —

Evolving Froakie didn't take too long. He also managed to evolve the Pidgey he'd caught before the gym battle too. Sparky got some training in and learned several useful moves. Now all he had to do was look for more pokemon to catch.

He almost ran into a Ralts (literally) near some of the larger flowers that littered Route 4. He sent out Tom to battle it.

"Stun spore." The attack missed and the psychic type teleported to another flower patch.

Fuck now I havta follow it.

Tom flapped his wings and followed closely behind his trainer.

When he finally caught up to the thing (he swore it teleported 5 or 6 times) Tom was as high in level as the rest of his evolved pokemon. They were all either level 20 or 22 at this point.

"Sneak up on it and use Stun spore."

This time the paralysis-inducing attack did its job, practically freezing the female psychic type in place. He knew it was a girl after having watched it and scanned it with his pokedex several times as he tried to come up with a strategy to capture it.

"Tackle." The butterfly gave an affirming cry and charged into the Ralts. It did damage, but not as much as he'd have liked.

"Return Tom. Go Sparky!"

The electric mouse shot sparks from its cheeks as he emerged from his ball. He glanced at his trainer, sensing his irritation, and glared at the horned pokemon.

—- — —- — —-

"Thundershock."

He did as told, using quick attack to get closer. This also allowed him to charge up the electricity more quickly with the friction from the ground as help. When he was five feet away from the other pokemon he let the electricity loose, landing a solid hit.

He watched as she started fading, not willing to let his trainer down. He would only have been called out now if someone else couldn't do the job of either knocking her out or helping to capture her. He shocked her again before she could escape.

"Great job buddy c'mere." He ran to his trainer, keeping an eye on the downed Ralts. She could be faking it.

— —- — —- —

Kalyx enlarged a poke ball and lobbed it toward the unconscious pokemon. After a struggle the ball fell still.

"Perfect!" he cried as he went to grab the ball from its place on the ground.

Havta stay positive. Not all captures are like this. Think I'll call you Hikari.

The second catch was with a Budew. A male by the looks of it.

"You're up Hikari." The female psychic type nodded at him and got ready to fight. He had several heal balls that he'd gotten from his parents before leaving on his journey and that was how he was able to use the pokemon after knocking them out. He'd also given some to Jace earlier to use.

—- — —- — —-

Male. Grass-type poison-type. Psychic moves ...

"Confusion."

Yes, that was my idea too.

She shot the wave of energy at the bud and it cried out in pain.

That's what you get for sitting there and not moving.

"CONFUSION again."

This time the bud moved. The attack barely did any damage because only a few sparks hit their target.

How could I miss like that? My aim is always dead-on.

"Don't let it shake you up. Teleport and then use double team right in front of it."

What are you asking me to do? That won't — oh.

As she teleported she realized she didn't know everything. She'd been ready to just keep running when the human finally cornered her, but maybe he could help her get stronger ...

Though the attack sequence he'd given her seemed unorthodox it actually worked. The grass type was so confused it didn't even see her when she pummeled it with confusion.

You do have good ideas ... well a good idea anyway 'master'.

— —- — —- —

Budew went into a poke ball. The last pokemon he found that he wanted to add to the team was a Ledyba. He decided to call her Sarah. After time spent training he had a Roselia (evolved from Budew) and a Kirlia (evolved from Ralts.)

Jace —

Evolving Thorns into Roselia was the last thing Jace did before meeting up with Kalyx. All his pokemon were leveled up nicely now. He withdrew everyone accept Jaden Sylveon and Trystian and started toward the gates that led out of Route 4. He thought he'd heard Black over here somewhere.

The little dog had gotten stronger (like the others) and was liking just walking around with the human. Jaden was curious about anything and everything, though his calculated demeanor during battle made that a little hard to believe at times. The two were rather strong and he was sure they would be splendid in a double battle together.

Black found him before he could locate the taller teen.

"Hi."

"Hey,"

"How'd you do?"

"Caught four pokemon and evolved four."

"Wow. I only found three. Evolved four though."

"So ... uhhh ..."

"Ready to go through the gates and on to Lumiose City Jace?"

"Sure."

Kalyx took the other boy's hand in his and they started walking.

In front of the gates there were two trainers. They refused to move.

"Will you leave if we battle you?" Jace asked after they'd spent nearly five minutes just standing there trying to get them to move out of the way.

"If you listen to us talk about our favorite pokemon we'll get out of the way." one said, a girl by the sound of it.

"Fine."

"The Flabébé is a fairy type. It is so elegant."

"It can learn grass moves as well as fairy type moves and resembles a flower."

"Aren't fairy types the best?"

Oh for god's sake ... someone give me earplugs!

The dialogue (Jace liked to call it a boring history lesson) went on for a while longer.

"Are you guys Jacen Sakiyo and Kalyx Black?" the boy of the pair asked as the girl finished gushing over the 'awesome flower power' of Flabébé.

Oh that's wonderful ... they know us?

"Who wants to know?" Black got in before he could reply.

Thanks for that. Not sure what I would have done.

"We were told by Prof. Sycamore to find and bring Jacen and Kalyx to him." the boy said.

"Yeah," the girl agreed.

"That's who we are." Black answered for them both.

"Good! Follow us!"

The pair left, the two teens doing their best to keep up with the enthusiastic strides.

What the hell are they on? Wait what the fuck does that mean anyway?

—- —- —-

The duo stopped and Jace was jerked to a halt by Alyx.

"What's going on?"

"I dunno they just stopped. There's an old man here."

"Would you two be Jacen Sakiyo and Kalyx Black?" the old man asked.

"He looks familiar ..." Jace heard Black mutter.

"Who do you think he is?"

"Let me look some more then I'll tell you."

"My name is Samuel Oak. You probably know me better as ..."

"Professor Oak," Black said before the man could continue.

"Yes, I am Professor Oak."

"Who?"

(Even I know who this is. Founder of the 'dex'. Not ringing any bells?)

You sound like fucking Kit when you say that.

"So, are you Jacen and Kalyx?" Oak asked again.

"Yes," they both said together.

That was creepy ...

"I have three pokemon here, I would like you each to take one."

"What do you have?"

"Charmander Bulbasaur and Squirtle. Charmander's ..."

"No need we both have pokedexes."

Maybe he was just nervous, but he really wanted to get away from these strangers. The Flabébé enthusiasts were particularly annoying. The old man was just ... he seemed rather odd and almost familiar to Jace. It was almost as if he'd seen the guy before or heard of him.

Kimii gave him the rundown of what she called the 'kanto starters'. Charmander the fire-type, Squirtle the water-type, and Bulbasaur the grass-poison type. They all seemed strong but Jace wanted the last two for himself. He wished he could have both, but the professor had said only one ...

"I'll take Bulbasaur."

"I'll take Squirtle." he heard Black say from beside him.

That's the other one I wanted ... hmmm ...

"Uh-oh you two are carrying too many pokemon. I'll send these to your pc's." Jace heard some noises that seemed familiar.

* (What's he doing?) *

(He brought out a machine that looks like a box with wires attached to it and just put a poke ball inside it.)

* (Wires?) *

(They go with computers and other machines. They uhhh ... make them work.)

* (Ok ...) *

(Something I thought you might wanna know ... the poke balls have pictures on them. One has a waterfall and the other has a pile of leaves.)

* (Thanks.) *

"That's it then." the man said after a while. Jace ran a hand through his hair and wrapped his arms around Jaden who'd come to stand in front of him at some point.

(He's worried about you. Says he wishes he could make you feel better ... take the emotions away.)

"Thanks for the concern Jaden." was all he could think to say.

The trainers took them into the city once they'd said farewell to the pokemon professor. The boy and girl pointed out some key locations as they gave a short tour of the very large city. They ceased for a bit at the pokemon center. Kalyx and Jace healed their pokemon and made their way to separate pc's to switch out pokemon.

He put Mothim Scorch and Marill into the pc. Even though he knew he could take seven with him he chose not to. He withdrew Shock (his Pikachu) and Ledyba who he now named Punches. He would mess with the Skitty-duo later. He was tempted to take out the Bulbasaur, but chose not to in the end.

He opened up his seal case and worked out combinations for the three new members of his team. Jaden got a twinkle seal followed by song seal b and then song seal g. B was a red quarter note and g was two eighth notes. All notes flew in random directions. Roselia (Thorns) was given a sequence consisting of a twinkle seal first, heart seal d second, and a flora seal f JACE found at the bottom of the case. Heart seal d was big black hearts surrounding a spot and the flora seal had small orange petals scattering in a burst from a spot. Ledyba acquired a special sequence with 1 each of star seal and d. A was first, b was next, c was after that, and d was last.

Once they had made the changes to their party pokemon Jace and Kalyx were shown to the professor's lab. The trainers explained that this was the main lab and the one in Aquacorde was just a building that Sycamore used when Jace asked about it. They went inside and got into the elevator. The button marked 3F was the only one that worked, so that's what Jace pressed.

"So what do you think will happen up there?"

"Not sure. We'll see the professor most likely."

"yeah. Jace did you think those two were weird?"

"Definitely,"

The professor greeted them when they got out.

"How have you two been?"

"Not too bad,"

"Alright," he heard Black say.

"Good good. I want to check your pokedexes."

He shrugged "here,"

"Here's mine," the taller teen said.

(He gave his too.)

The older man handed them back shortly.

"You two are doing well."

"Thanks," they said together.

Again? This is beyond creepy now.

"There is something else I would like to do while you are still here."

"What's that?" And again they both said it in unison.

Wow ...

"I want to battle you."

Double battle us?

"Battle you separately," the professor clarified.

Ahh that would have been really fun.

"So who's first?"

"I'll go first," he found himself saying.

The battle was over quickly. Kirlia took down Bulbasaur, Shock trounced Squirtle, and Sylveon took out Charmander. Jace received 2800 poke dollars from the battle, glad he'd given Pikachu the luck incense this time. Black beat Sycamore as well. His Pikachu Sparky laid waste to the Squirtle, Splash (his Kalos water starter) knocked out Charmander, and Hikari (Kirlia) made Bulbasaur faint. He got 1400 poke dollars from the battle.

"Since you both were magnificent I have another set of Kanto Starters for you to choose from."

Another one? Nice!

He remembered Alyx mumbling about Charmander earlier, when he himself was picking his Bulbasaur.

"I'll take Charmander."

Something to trade ...

"I'll take Bulbasaur then."

Just then Shauna came into the room. He knew because she ran right into him ... again.

"Hi Shauna."

"Ow ... Oh hi Jace! Guess I got here late huh? Hi Black!"

Uh ...

"Glad you could join us Shauna even if you are late." The professor said.

She battled the professor but Jace didn't pay attention to it. He had his arms around Jaden with Sylveon clinging to his shoulder by his tendrils like usual. Alyx's arms were around Jace's waist.

"That was fun wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Might have been more exciting for me if I knew what the hype was with the Kanto starters though."

Black hummed in response. "Usually a trainer only gets one starter pokemon. The one they get comes from whatever region they start in. Some trainers, like the great Red, have gotten almost every starter in every region."

"Really?"

"That's what they say anyway. Never met him to ask."

"Hmmm ..."

—- —- —-

Later at the pokemon center Jace traded his Charmander for Black's Squirtle. The water type went into his pc for the time being. He grabbed the male Skitty and let it out to show Black.

"What is that?"

"It's a Skitty. You don't have one right?"

"No, my pokedex kept saying there were Skitty on Route 4 but I never found one."

"Let's trade then."

"Uhhh ... I'm not sure I have anything else to trade. Let me check."

Lots of typing and then silence.

"I found something! You don't have a Psyduck yet do you?"

"Psyduck?"

"Yeah it's a water and psychic type pokemon."

"No, I don't."

"Want one?"

"I do like the psychic-type I have, so why not."

The trade was made and Jace smiled as he pressed the button to release his newest pokemon. It started running around saying its name over and over again.

* (What the fuck is it doing?) *

(Ow ow ow ... it's giving me a headache!)

* (Well it's giving me a migraine!) *

(Ouch! It's running around and freaking out. I think it has a headache ... which means ...)

Before they could stop it Jace was pushed onto the ground by an unknown force. Jaden growled and stood over him, Sylveon doing the same.

(I can't believe this! That damned duck just attacked you!)

* (Huh ... what hit me?) *

(The Psyduck.)

* (Ugh ... I'm putting her in the pc for a while ...) *

"Are you ok?"

(He's holding his hand out to help you up. Might wanna call Kirlia off. He's really protective right now.)

* (Right ...) *

"Jaden back off he's not gonna hurt me. Someone hand me that duck's poke ball."

"Here," The ball was placed in his right hand and he sent the water-psychic type back inside. Black hauled him up as soon as Jaden moved out of the way.

"So, what you gonna call her?"

"Migraine,"


End file.
